Mindfulness with paced breathing and lowering blood pressure
September 9, 2020
Science Daily/Florida Atlantic University
Now more than ever, Americans and people all over the world are under increased stress, which may adversely affect their health and well-being. Researchers explore the possibility that mindfulness with paced breathing reduces blood pressure. One of the most plausible mechanisms is that paced breathing stimulates the vagus nerve and parasympathetic nervous system, which reduce stress chemicals in the brain and increase vascular relaxation that may lead to lowering of blood pressure.
According to the American Stroke Association (ASA) and the American Heart Association (AHA), more than 100 million Americans have high blood pressure. Elevated blood pressure is a major avoidable cause of premature morbidity and mortality in the United States and worldwide due primarily to increased risks of stroke and heart attacks. Elevated blood pressure is the most important major and modifiable risk factor to reduce stroke. In fact, small but sustained reductions in blood pressure reduce risks of stroke and heart attacks. Therapeutic lifestyle changes of weight loss and salt reduction as well as adjunctive drug therapies are beneficial to treat and prevent high blood pressure.
Mindfulness is increasingly practiced as a technique to reduce stress through mind and body interactions. In some instances, mindfulness includes paced breathing defined as deep and diaphragmatic with slow rates typically about five to seven per minute compared with the usual rate of 12 to 14. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Schmidt College of Medicine and collaborators have published a paper in the journal Medical Hypotheses, exploring the possibility that mindfulness with paced breathing reduces blood pressure.
"One of the most plausible mechanisms is that paced breathing stimulates the vagus nerve and parasympathetic nervous system, which reduce stress chemicals in the brain and increase vascular relaxation that may lead to lowering of blood pressure," said Suzanne LeBlang, M.D., a neuroradiologist, second and corresponding author, and an affiliate associate professor in FAU's Schmidt College of Medicine.
The researchers believe the hypothesis they have formulated that mindfulness with paced breathing reduces blood pressure should be tested. To do so, FAU's Schmidt College of Medicine co-authors are already collaborating with their co-authors from the Marcus Neuroscience Institute, Boca Raton Regional Hospital/ Baptist Health South; and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health on an investigator-initiated research grant proposal to the National Institutes of Health. The initial pilot trial would include obtaining informed consent from willing and eligible subjects and assigning them at random to mindfulness either with or without paced breathing and examining whether there are sustained effects on lowering blood pressure.
"This pilot randomized trial might lead to further randomized trials of intermediate markers such as inhibition of progression of carotid intimal thickening or coronary artery atherosclerosis, and subsequently, a large scale trial to reduce stroke and heart attacks," said Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.PH, senior author, first Sir Richard Doll Professor and senior academic advisor in FAU's Schmidt College of Medicine. "Achieving sustained reductions in blood pressure of 4 to 5 millimeters of mercury decreases risk of stroke by 42 percent and heart attacks by about 17 percent; so positive findings would have important clinical and policy implications."
According to the ASA and AHA, cardiovascular disease (CVD), principally heart attacks and strokes, accounts for more than 800,000 deaths or 40 percent of total mortality in the U.S. each year and more than 17 million deaths worldwide. In the U.S., CVD is projected to remain the single leading cause of mortality and is rapidly becoming so worldwide. Stroke alone ranks fifth in all-cause mortality in the U.S., killing nearly 133,000 people annually as well as more than 11 percent of the population worldwide.
"Now more than ever, Americans and people all over the world are under increased stress, which may adversely affect their health and well-being," said Barbara Schmidt, co-author, teacher, researcher, philanthropist, bestselling author of "The Practice," as well as an adjunct instructor at FAU's Schmidt College of Medicine. "We know that mindfulness decreases stress and I am cautiously optimistic that mindfulness with paced breathing will produce sustained lowering of blood pressure."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200909100214.htm
Meditation linked to lower cardiovascular risk
Survey data from more than 61,000 people points to heart benefits
July 15, 2020
Science Daily/Veterans Affairs Research Communications
Meditation was linked to lower cardiovascular risk in a data analysis by Veterans Affairs researchers and colleagues.
The results appeared online June 30 in the American Journal of Cardiology.
Previous studies have suggested that meditation may have beneficial effects on a number of conditions. A 2017 American Heart Association scientific statement suggests that meditation may be of benefit for cardiovascular risk reduction. Data show that it may help with blood pressure, cholesterol level, quitting smoking, and overall cardiovascular health. However, this connection is far from definitive. By using a large national database with many participants, the authors of the new study sought further evidence on how meditation impacts cardiovascular risk.
Lead researcher Dr. Chayakrit Krittanawong -- of the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Baylor College of Medicine, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai -- and his colleagues studied data from the National Health Interview Survey, conducted annually by the National Center for Health Statistics. It collects information on a wide range of health topics from a nationally representative sample.
The researchers looked at data on more than 61,000 survey participants. Of those, almost 6,000 (nearly 10%) said they participated in some form of meditation.
The researchers found that people who meditated had lower rates of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, and coronary artery disease, compared with those who did not meditate.
The greatest difference was in coronary artery disease. Those who meditated were 51% as likely as those who didn't to have the disease. The prevalence of other cardiovascular risks in the meditation group compared with the non-meditation group was 65% for high cholesterol, 70% for diabetes, 76% for stroke, and 86% for high blood pressure.
The researchers controlled for other factors connected to cardiovascular risk, such as age, sex, cigarette smoking, and body mass index. After adjusting for these factors, the effect of meditation was still significant.
Many types of meditation exist. Most focus on attention and awareness. Meditation has been shown to increase physical and mental relaxation. "I believe in meditation, as it can give us a sense of calm, peace, and stress reduction, leading to improvement of our emotional well-being," explained Krittanawong.
Practicing meditation has been linked to decreased stress, greater mindfulness, and improved psychological health. It may even lead to long-term functional and anatomical changes in the brain. Meditation is also simple, cost-effective, and low-risk.
Krittanawong and colleagues did note several limitations to the study. First, the survey did not capture what type of meditation people were using. Some types of meditation may offer more cardiovascular benefit than others, say the researchers. The survey also did not ask about the duration or intensity of that meditation. It is possible that those who practice longer and more frequently will get more benefit, but the study cannot measure these effects.
Also, the researchers cannot definitively say that meditation directly decreases cardiovascular risk. It could be that people who are in better cardiovascular health to begin with are more likely to practice meditation, rather than the other way around.
Other life activities might also obscure the link between meditation and cardiovascular health. The researchers found factoring in alcohol consumption and physical activity lowered the significance of the relationship between meditation and cardiovascular risk.
Considering all these factors, the researchers concluded that meditation is "probably" associated with lower prevalence of cardiovascular risk. Krittanawong notes that, while the results suggest that meditation can improve cardiovascular health, "we would need a powerful study such as a clinical trial to determine whether meditation could benefit cardiovascular health in veterans."
Meanwhile, the study adds to a growing body of research on the potential benefits of meditation, they say.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200715135734.htm