{"id":1732964,"date":"2022-11-10T07:51:53","date_gmt":"2022-11-10T12:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1732964"},"modified":"2022-11-10T08:02:59","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T13:02:59","slug":"take-the-mindful-way-to-lower-blood-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/take-the-mindful-way-to-lower-blood-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"Take the Mindful Way to Lower Blood Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftake-the-mindful-way-to-lower-blood-pressure%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1732964&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Mindfulness is a centuries-old practice that\u2019s become trendy in recent years\u2014and a new study now says it can help your heart health.<\/p>\n<p>Training in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-mindfulness\">mindfulness<\/a> can help people better manage their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-high-blood-pressure\">high blood pressure<\/a> by helping them stick to healthy lifestyle changes, a new clinical trial reports.<\/p>\n<p>An eight-week customized mindfulness program helped people lower their systolic blood pressure by nearly 6 points during a six-month follow-up period, researchers found.<\/p>\n<p>That was significantly better than the 1.4-point reduction that occurred in people undergoing usual blood pressure care, researchers said during a presentation Sunday at the American Heart Association\u2019s annual meeting, in Chicago. Such research is considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.<\/p>\n<p>The results could be relevant to a patient\u2019s health, given that previous studies have found that a 5-point drop in systolic pressure translates to a 10 percent lower risk of heart attack and stroke, said lead researcher\u00a0<a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brown.edu\/public-health\/mindfulness\/people\/eric-b-loucks-phd#:~:text=As%20director%20of%20the%20Mindfulness,on%20health%20and%20well%2Dbeing.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eric Loucks<\/a>, director of the Mindfulness Center at Brown University.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we can train people in mindfulness skills and then apply those skills to people\u2019s relationships with the things that we know influence blood pressure\u2014like physical activity or diet or antihypertensive medication adherence or alcohol consumption\u2014we might be able to boost the effects\u201d of their prescribed blood pressure control plan, Loucks said.<\/p>\n<p>For example, in this study participants armed with mindfulness training tended to exercise more and eat better, he noted.<\/p>\n<p>About 46 percent of Americans have high blood pressure, but only about half of them have it under control, Loucks said.<\/p>\n<p>Loucks and his colleagues recruited about 100 people with elevated and untreated blood pressure to attend weekly group training sessions in mindfulness. These people also went to an all-day mindfulness retreat.<\/p>\n<p>Mindfulness training enhances people\u2019s self-awareness of their own thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations, helping them pay attention to their responses and regulate their emotions, Loucks said.<\/p>\n<p>In this instance, mindfulness helps people perceive and acknowledge how they feel after they make good choices that improve their blood pressure, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust about everybody feels good after physical activity, often for hours, and dietary choices can make a big impact on how we feel on the body and the mind. For example, some people, when they eat something sweet, get a sugar high and then a sugar crash,\u201d Loucks said. \u201cSo we just notice that, with nonjudgmental, curious awareness, and then act in skillfully in response to what we\u2019re detecting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The researchers then compared how well the patients controlled their blood pressure for six months to another group of 100 patients that were given the usual care: a home blood pressure monitor, education on managing blood pressure, and access to a doctor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe saw pretty nice reductions in blood pressure over six months of follow-up compared to the control group,\u201d Loucks said.<\/p>\n<p>Further analysis found that people in the mindfulness group were more likely to eat heart-healthy foods, exercise more, and indulge less often in sedentary behavior, Loucks said. They also reported lower levels of stress.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d like to see this replicated by groups other than us, with longer follow-up time and more generalizable participant samples,\u201d Loucks said. \u201cIf that were to happen and the results held, it could be an appealing approach to help control the blood pressure of about half of Americans who have hypertension.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Such mindfulness training could support strategies that have already been proven to help control blood pressure, said\u00a0<a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/utswmed.org\/doctors\/amit-khera\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dr. Amit Khera<\/a>, director of the preventive cardiology program at UT Southwestern in Dallas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need complementary strategies to help lower blood pressure,\u201d Khera said. \u201cEqually importantly, we need strategies to help people adopt the lifestyle habits that enable them to help lower their blood pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 6-point blood pressure reduction seen in the mindfulness patients \u201cis clinically important, and it is meaningful,\u201d added\u00a0<a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=Dr.+Janani+Rangaswami%2C+director+of+the+cardiorenal+program+at+George+Washington+University&#038;rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS931US934&#038;oq=Dr.+Janani+Rangaswami%2C+director+of+the+cardiorenal+program+at+George+Washington+University&#038;aqs=chrome..69i57j69i59.1026j0j15&#038;sourceid=chrome&#038;ie=UTF-8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dr. Janani Rangaswami<\/a>, director of the cardiorenal program at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis mindfulness-based approach, in addition to standard of care with pharmacotherapy, is a really welcome addition to the hypertension literature,\u201d Rangaswami said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>More information<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Harvard University has more on\u00a0<a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.harvard.edu\/in-focus\/mindfulness-meditation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mindfulness<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>SOURCES: Eric Loucks, Ph.D., director, Mindfulness Center, Brown University, Providence, R.I.; Amit Khera, MD, director, preventive cardiology program, UT Southwestern, Dallas; Janani Rangaswami, MD, director, cardiorenal program, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.; presentation, American Heart Association annual meeting, Chicago, Nov. 6, 2022<\/p>\n<p><em>This story was originally published on the HealthDay\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/consumer.healthday.com\/high-blood-pressure-2658599769.html\">site.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-dennis-thompson\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/default-user.png\" alt=\"Dennis Thompson\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Thompson, a HealthDay senior staff reporter, has been a reporter for over 25 years, serving primarily at Gannett newspapers on both coasts of the United States. He has also worked for over 10 years as a freelance health reporter, writing articles for a variety of online and print news companies.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mindfulness is a centuries-old practice that\u2019s become trendy in recent years\u2014and a new study now says it can help your heart health. Training in mindfulness can help people better manage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1898901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1732964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1732964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1732964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1732964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1898901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1732964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1732964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1732964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}