Staving Off High Blood Pressure ; Study Finds Meditation Helps Black Teens Improve Their Numbers

Summary

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THE QUESTION: The prevalence of high blood pressure among African- Americans is among the highest in the world, and it develops at an early age. Might a mental relaxation technique like transcendental meditation (TM) help stem the development of hypertension among black teenagers?

THIS STUDY randomly assigned 100 black teens with blood pressure in the high end of the normal range - their daytime readings averaged about 130/76 - to 15-minute TM sessions or 15-minute health- and lifestyle-oriented classroom instruction sessions twice daily for four months. At the end of that period, those who practiced TM had lower blood pressure than when the study began: The reduction was about 3.5 points on the systolic and diastolic readings. Their heart rates were also lower. The other teens showed little or no change in heart rate or blood pressure. When rechecked four months later, the TM participants had maintained their declines.

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Extract

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Staving Off High Blood Pressure ; Study Finds Meditation Helps Black Teens Improve Their Numbers

WHO MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE FINDINGS? Teens at risk of developing high blood pressure. More than 40 percent...

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