Learned control of blood pressure in patients with high blood pressure.
Five patients with documented histories of essential hypertension of at least ten years' duration participated in a triphasic study of training to control systolic blood pressure (SBP). Phase 1 was a seven week period during which patients took their BP (systolic and diastolic) at home and mailed these data to us daily. Phase 2 was a three week period during which patients were taught to control SBP using a noninvasive technique: patients were trained to raise, to lower and to alternately lower and raise SBP. Phase 3 was a three month period during which patients again took their BP at home and mailed these data to us daily.


RESULTS
(1) all patients learned SBP control: average increas  15%; average decrease  11%; (2) during SBP control heart rates, breathing rates, triceps brachii muscle tension and EEG activity did not change; (3) follow-up tests at one and three months showed evidence of retained SBP control; (4) baseline SBP fell from 153 mm Hg during laboratory training to 135 mm Hg at the three month follow-up; (5) phase 3 home BPs fell 18/8 mm Hg from phase 1 levels; (6) at home patients also were able to reduce SBP from 141 mm Hg (average) to 125 mm Hg (average) by means of the lowering technique learned in the laboratory.
D000368:Aged; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D001794:Blood Pressure; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D003463:Cues; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011603:Psychophysiology; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D013997:Time Factors