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Relax, but is there rest for the blood pressure?

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 22, pages 807–808 (2008)Cite this article

Often patients report blood pressure values in the hypertensive range in response to excitement. A common statement is that the excitement (or stressful event) was enough to ‘raise my blood pressure’ or, in the clinic, an exciting period was the ‘cause’ of high blood pressure readings recorded on that day.

Although no strong epidemiological evidence exists for an association between stress and sustained hypertension, clinicians and patients often seek relaxation therapy as an additional means to potentially lower blood in addition to behavioural and medical therapies. However, the definition of relaxation is often vague, and several techniques, including autogenic training,1 behavioural therapy,2 meditation,2 biofeedback,2 breathing exercises,3 progressive muscle relaxation4 or yoga5 have been employed. So far, the effect of these different techniques to lower blood pressure has been assessed in relatively small clinical trials. Previous publications provided conflicting evidence, reviewed only a limited number of relaxation techniques or were restricted to studies covering only a short follow-up period.1, 6, 7, 8

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  1. Department of Cardiology and Pulmonology, Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany

    C Schmidt-Lucke

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Correspondence to C Schmidt-Lucke.

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Schmidt-Lucke, C. Relax, but is there rest for the blood pressure?. J Hum Hypertens 22, 807–808 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2008.66

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