October 16, 2004

Just Breath Easy

John Naish: Breakthroughs, tips and trends

THE ANSWER to many people's high blood pressure could be simply to breathe easy. Clinical tests of a device that helps people with hypertension to breathe more slowly show that it can lower their pressure levels significantly.

The Rush University study, in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension, tested 149 patients on the American device, called the RESPeRATE, and found that 45 minutes' self-treatment a week significantly reduces their systolic blood pressure, regardless of whether they are on medication or not.

The breathing device combines a set of headphones and a sensor that measures breathing. It emits tones that guide the user when to inhale and exhale. Normally we take between 14 and 19 breaths a minute. Slow-breathing aims to get you down to 10.

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