This is a summary of an article by Allison Aubrey, published on August 21 2008 on National Public Radio News in the US

To Lower Blood Pressure, Open Up & Say 'Om'

Dr. Randy Zusman has been the Director of the hypertension program at Massachusetts General Hospital for 20 years, and in recent years has become more assertive with patients about lifestyle changes if they are serious about reducing their blood pressure. However, lately he has added a new recommendation: meditation, based on what he learned from a recent three-month study he helped direct in conjunction with Boston's Institute for Mind Body Medicine.

Patients taking part in the research were being treated for high blood pressure using standard medications, but their blood pressure was still not under control according to Zusman. The patients then agreed to be trained in meditation and to learn about the ‘relaxation response’, a technique first identified thirty years ago by cardiologist Herbert Benson.

One patient in the study was a man named J. Smith, a retired corporate executive but still a part time business consultant, who claimed that sitting quietly and alone was a foreign concept in terms of his normal life. But with help and weekly one-to-one meditation training sessions, he learned how to meditate, which he described as “Just letting all your tension go". He also found that realising that you're not in control can make you more effective in matters where you do have control. By the end of the study, Smith’s blood pressure was down, and therefore he was able reduce the dosage of one of his medications.

Positive Results

Zusman found that around two-thirds of the 60 patients trained in the relaxation response had similar results, stating "Their blood pressure dropped, and they dropped some of their medication. It was striking. It was statistically significant, but more important it was clinically significant to these people."

Explanation of the results comes from the relatively new understanding of how the relaxation response assists the body by increasing the formation of a compound called nitric oxide (which we all make in our bodies) which causes blood vessels to open up. This, in turn, lowers blood pressure. Using a plumbing analogy, Zusman described the effect as being the same as “pushing the same amount of blood through a bigger pipe."

Commitment Required

However, the relaxation response is not a gift, and the required a daily meditation practice takes self-discipline. Smith, the study participant, says this is the hard part. One year after the study, he admits his daily meditation practice has begun to slip because his life has become too busy. Zusman concludes that although meditation (and the consequent relaxation response) is useful in helping to control blood pressure, whether its effects are temporary or more long term depends on how well people can stick with it.

<< Go back to the main page about the Scientific Benefits of Meditation