title: Acupuncture lowers blood pressure in mild hypertension patients: a randomized, controlled, assessor-blinded pilot trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To preliminarily assess the effects of acupuncture on prehypertension and stage I hypertension, and to provide data for further research.
  
  
  METHODS
  A randomized, controlled, assessor-blinded study with an 8-week intervention period and a 4-week follow-up.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were patients with systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 120-159mmHg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of 80-99mmHg.Thirty participants were allocated to acupuncture group or untreated control group at a 1:1 ratio. The acupuncture group received standard acupuncture twice weekly for 8 weeks, and was followed-up for 4 weeks after treatment; the control group did not receive any type of anti-hypertensive treatment for 12 weeks.
  
  
  METHODS
  Primary outcome measure was SBP and DBP at post-treatment. The secondary outcomes were SBP and DBP at follow-up; Euro Quality of life (EQ-5D), heart rate variability (HRV), body mass index (BMI), and blood lipid profile.
  
  
  RESULTS
  DBP (-5.7mmHg; P=0.025), but not SBP (-6.0mmHg; P=0.123), was significantly different between groups at post-treatment. Both DBP (-7.8mmHg; P=0.004) and SBP (-8.6mmHg; P=0.031) were significantly different at follow-up. Among the HRV indices, only high frequency power was significantly different between groups at weeks 4 and 8 (P=0.047 and P=0.030, respectively). There were no differences between groups in EQ-5D, BMI or lipid profile.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study show that acupuncture might lower blood pressure in prehypertension and stage I hypertension, and further RCT need 97 participants in each group. The effect of acupuncture on prehypertension and mild hypertension should be confirmed in larger studies.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  KCT0000496.
authors.affiliation: Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea; Korea University of Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea. Electronic address: liuyandoc@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea. Electronic address: jepark@kiom.re.kr.
authors.forename: Ji-Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea. Electronic address: kyungmin7221@kiom.re.kr.
authors.forename: Kyung-Min
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea. Electronic address: minimarine@kiom.re.kr.
authors.forename: Minhee
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea. Electronic address: only221@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hee Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea. Electronic address: arkim@kiom.re.kr.
authors.forename: Ae-Ran
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea. Electronic address: syjung@kiom.re.kr.
authors.forename: So-Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Dunsan Oriental Hospital of Daejeon University, Daejeon, South Korea. Electronic address: medicdragon@hanmail.net.
authors.forename: Ho Ryong
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea. Electronic address: logos319@kiom.re.kr.
authors.forename: Kwon O
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Sang
authors.affiliation: Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea; Korea University of Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea. Electronic address: smchoi@kiom.re.kr.
authors.forename: Sun-Mi
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D058246:Prehypertension / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids
keywords: Acupuncture; Blood pressure; Heart rate variability; Prehypertension; Stage I hypertension