Regulating Device Helps Drop Numbers

Results of an 8-week study of 149 individuals with high bloodpressure showed that, when the individuals practiced slow breathingwith a regulating device, their blood pressure fell. These findingswere reported in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension (October2004). The device, RESPeRATE, is the size of a paperbackbook and is hooked up to an elastic belt placed around the chest.RESPeRATE monitors the breathing rate of the individual, calculatesthe preferred rate, and "synthesizes a personalized melodycomprised of 2 distinct tones—one for inhalation and one forexhalation,"which is played through headphones.

For the study, the participants were randomly assigned to usethe device or to simply monitor their blood pressure at home.The study found that individuals who used RESPeRATE for atleast 180 minutes over the study's duration experienced anaverage drop of 15 points in the systolic blood pressure reading.Participants who used the device for <180 minutes witnessed a7-point drop in systolic pressure. Participants only monitoringtheir blood pressure at home showed a 9-point decrease in systolicpressure.