Daily dose of yoga lowers blood pressure
Prehypertension affects 1 in 3 Americans. A new study suggests 1 hour of yoga a day reduces blood pressure and may help patients with prehypertension avoid developing high blood pressure.
New research suggests yoga may prevent patients with prehypertension from developing hypertension.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 75 million American adults have high blood pressure, also called hypertension.
Hypertension is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. It is defined as a systolic blood pressure of 140 millimeters of mercury per gram (mmHg) or higher, and/or diastolic blood pressure of 90 mmHg or higher.
A further 1 in 3 Americans have prehypertension, a condition where blood pressure is higher than normal, but not high enough to fall in the hypertension range. Prehypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure between 120-139 mmHg or a diastolic blood pressure of 80-89 mmHg.
Unless they improve their lifestyle, patients with prehypertension are likely to develop hypertension in the long term.
According to a study presented at the 68th Annual Conference of the Cardiological Society of India (CSI), yoga may have unexpected health benefits for patients with prehypertension.
Researchers - led by Dr. Ashutosh Angrish, cardiologist at Sir Gangaram Hospital in Delhi, India - examined the effect of hatha yoga on the blood pressure of 60 patients with prehypertension.
They divided the participants into two groups of 30. One group practiced hatha yoga for 3 months in addition to making conventional lifestyle changes, while the control group only made lifestyle changes.
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