Women and Blood Pressure
Most people have heard of "high" blood pressure (hypertension). This refers to numbers on the blood pressure monitor of 140/90 mm Hg or more. If a woman has hypertension and also fits certain other criteria (such as smoking, age, diabetes, high cardiovascular disease risk) she may be prescribed high blood pressure medication, even if her blood pressure is as low as 130/80 mm Hg (1).
Not so many people know about "elevated", "raised", or "intermediate high" blood pressure (prehypertension) which is higher than optimal blood pressure, but in a range that does not usually require medication. Prehypertension is between 120/80 and 139/89 mm Hg (2). If prehypertension in women is left unaddressed, science shows us that it will inevitably climb and contribute more risk to developing cardiovascular diseases such as stroke or heart attack, than smoking does (3). Cardiovascular diseases are the number one killer of women globally (4). You can learn more about women and heart disease in New Zealand at the Heart Foundation of New Zealand website (5) Breathing and Blood PressureWhilst nobody can deny that they are breathing (!), not everyone has had the chance to learn how to breathe properly and with ease. Science has shown that receiving training in how to breathe better can help people to feel more relaxed (6), bring down blood pressure (7), and improve sleep (8). There is also emerging evidence that simple breathing techniques can help to manage blood sugars and cholesterol (14).
The simple breathing technique that will be taught in this research has been shown to reduce blood pressure (9), reduce feelings of stress (10), and increase the activity of the relaxing part of the nervous system (11). What we don't know, is if this will be true for women living in New Zealand with "raised" blood pressure, and if it is, whether women will find the breathing enjoyable and worthwhile to continue as part of a healthy lifestyle. That's why we need you!! In harmony with The New Zealand Health Research Prioritisation Framework (12), this research could create awareness of “new and better ways to prevent” raised blood pressure developing into high blood pressure, and therefore lower cardiovascular disease risk (13). Similarly, it could contribute to uplifting the wellbeing of New Zealand women, families and communities in generations to come (13). If you would like to know more about taking part:
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If you would like to let more people know about this research you can:
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(1) Best Practice Advocacy Centre New Zealand. (2018). Cardiovascular disease risk assessment in primary care: managing blood pressure. https://bpac.org.nz/2018/docs/bp.pdf
(2) Arima, H., Murakami, Y., Lam, T. H., Kim, H. C., Ueshima, H., Woo, J., & Woodward, M. (2012). Effects of prehypertension and hypertension subtype on cardiovascular disease in the Asia-Pacific Region. Hypertension, 59(6), 1118-1123. https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.111.187252
(3) Hsia, J., Margolis, K. L., Eaton, C. B., Wenger, N. K., Allison, M., Wu, L., & Black, H. R. (2007). Prehypertension and cardiovascular disease risk in the Women’s Health Initiative. Circulation, 115(7), 855-860. https://dx.doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.106.656850
(4) World Health Organisation. (n.d.). Global Health Observatory. Retrieved March 8, 2020, from http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.wrapper.MGHEMORTCAUSE?lang=en
(5) Heart Foundation New Zealand. (n.d.). Women and heart disease. https://www.heartfoundation.org.nz/your-heart/women-and-heart-disease
(6) Arden-Close, E., Yardley, L., Kirby, S., Thomas, M., & Bruton, A. (2017). Patients’ experiences of breathing retraining for asthma: a qualitative process analysis of participants in the intervention arms of the BREATHE trial. NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine, 27(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41533-017-0055-5
(7) Chandler, J., Sox, L., Diaz, V., Kellam, K., Neely, A., Nemeth, L., & Treiber, F. (2020). Impact of 12-month smartphone breathing meditation program upon systolic blood pressure among non-medicated stage 1 hypertensive adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(6), 1955. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17061955
(8)Courtney, R. (2020). Breathing retraining in sleep apnoea: a review of approaches and potential mechanisms. Sleep and Breathing, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-020-02013-4
(9) Telles, S., Yadav, A., Kumar, N., Sharma, S., Visweswaraiah, N. K., & Balkrishna, A. (2013). Blood pressure and Purdue pegboard scores in individuals with hypertension after alternate nostril breathing, breath awareness, and no intervention. Medical Science Monitor: International Medical Journal of Experimental and Clinical Research, 19, 61. https://dx.doi.org/10.12659/MSM.883743
(10) Naik, G. S., Gaur, G. S., & Pal, G. K. (2018). Effect of modified slow breathing exercise on perceived stress and basal cardiovascular parameters. International journal of yoga, 11(1), 53. https://dx.doi.org/10.4103%2Fijoy.IJOY_41_16
(11) Levin, C. J., & Swoap, S. J. (2019). The impact of deep breathing and alternate nostril breathing on heart rate variability: a human physiology laboratory. Advances in Physiology Education, 43(3), 270-276. https://dx.doi.org/10.1152/advan.00019.2019
(12) Health Research Council New Zealand. (2019). The New Zealand Health Research Prioritisation Framework. https://www.hrc.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2020-01/NZ%20Prioritisation-Framework-FA-web_0.pdf
(13) Zimlichman, R. (2019). Non-pharmacologic Approaches for the Management of Prehypertension. In: Zimlichman R., Julius S., Mancia G. (Eds.), Prehypertension and Cardiometabolic Syndrome (pp. 629-642). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75310-2_39
(14) Tiwari, S., Agrawal, S. K., & Sharma, K. K. (2020). A clinical trial to evaluate the role of pranayama in pre-hypertension. Journal of Ayurveda. https://www.journalofayurveda.in/uploads/article/JOA-z96xwi58pNxAhh05.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1AFgLffADTgpSc3cuY8-hIAUxmMxu0hfIYSytmIS5fsGmSEJJYF_TcQR4