NCT00328016

Breathe: Slow Paced Breathing to Lower Blood Pressure

Respiratory Adaptations to Behavioral Interventions in Elevated Blood Pressure

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 44 (actual)
• Sponsor: National Institute on Aging (NIA) · NIH
• Sex: All
• Age: 40 Years – 70 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate the nature of the physiological reasons for the decreases in resting blood pressure that can result from systematic practice of computer-guided breathing exercises or meditative relaxation.

Detailed description

In this randomized clinical trial, persons with moderately elevated blood pressure were trained in either computer-guided breathing exercises or meditative relaxation to breathing. The computer-guided breathing exercise involves listening to tones of ascending and descending pitch to which breathing is entrained to low frequencies over a 15 minute interval. The meditative relaxation involves passive attention to natural breathing for the same duration. Participants will perform these breathing exercises daily at home for four weeks. Before and after the intervention, respiratory, cardiovascular, and urinary endogenous digitalis-like factors will be systematically recorded to determine the extent to which chronic neuroendocrine changes underlie the reductions in blood pressure.

Conditions

• High Blood Pressure

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Guided Breathing	The participant will engage in daily 15 min sessions of meditative relaxation that involves quiet attention to breathing pattern with no attempt to manipulate breathing pattern
DEVICE	RESPeRATE	The participant will be trained to perform a guided breathing task that involves a chest expansion sensor, battery-powered microcomputer, and earphones

Timeline

• Start date: 2006-04-01
• Primary completion: 2009-12-01
• Completion: 2009-12-01
• First posted: 2006-05-19
• Last updated: 2017-07-02
• Results posted: 2017-07-02

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States