title: Systemic arterial hypertension: results of the change from pharmacological to nonpharmacological treatment.
abstract: The effect of nonpharmacological measures--diet (restriction to salt), weight reduction, stress avoidance, stopping smoking, and exercise--are analyzed after being applied to 145 hypertensive individuals (average age 60.3 years) using antihypertensive drugs for 6 months without nonpharmacological therapy. The initial systolic arterial pressure was 177 mm Hg; at the end of 4 weeks of treatment, it was 151.3 mm Hg. The initial diastolic arterial pressure was 98.5 mm Hg; at the end of 4 weeks it was 89.8 mm Hg (p less than 0.001). The proposal for treating hypertension with nonpharmacological measures represents a challenge and opens a new horizon to scientific research.
authors.affiliation: Geriatrics Institute of the Pontifical, Catholic University of the Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Moriguchi
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Consoni
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Hekman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001794:Blood Pressure; D004039:Diet, Sodium-Restricted; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000628:therapy; D015431:Weight Loss