Countdown to Lower Blood Pressure

If you thought that drugs with their unwanted side effects were the only way to control high blood pressure, think again. Studies show that a sizable number of people with mild hypertension can get their pressure dropped with out drugs. At an American College of Cardiology meeting, two separate studies reported that non drug therapy achieved control equal to drugs for people with mildly elevated blood pressure. In some cases, the nondrug techniques worked even better than drugs.
More Exercise, Less Stress, Better Nutrition

One of those studies, conducted at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, involved 86 men (average age, 57) whose resting diastolic blood pressure (the second number of your blood pressure reading; like the 70 part of a 120/70) was 95 to 105 mmHg (millimeters of mercury). The men were assigned to two groups for three months of different treatments. In one group, the men were given either 80 milligrams of the blood pressure dropping drug propranolol twice daily or two placebo pills that looked like propranolol but contained no active drug. The men in the other group got no pills at all. Instead, they exercised, modified their intake of salt, fat, and alcoholic beverages, and attended weekly stress management sessions. (The men in the drug or placebo group received no such counseling and made no changes in their diet or exercise habits.) By the study's end, the men who had exercised, improved their diet, and reduced their stress had an average blood pressure reduction of nearly 13 mmHg, compared with only 8 mmHg for those on drug therapy.
Drugs Plus Exercise No Better Than Exercise Alone.

The other study, which caused quite a buzz in medical circles, was conducted at Johns Hopkins University. It looked at the effects of exercise alone and came up with a surprising finding. Men who simply participated in an exercise program controlled their blood pressure just as well as men who worked out and took drugs to control their hypertension. The study involved 52 men aged 25 to 59, all with resting diastolic blood pressures between 90 and 105 mmHg. The men were divided into three groups. Men in the first group were given a beta blocking drug to lower their blood pressure. Men in the second group took another type of antihypertension drug, a calcium channel blocker. The men in the third group got placebo pills that contained no active drug. All of the men, however, took part in a ten week exercise regimen that included weight training, walking, jogging, or cycling. At the end of the study, the men taking the placebos had an average blood pressure of 131/84. Those taking the drugs didn't do any better. In fact, their averages of 138/88 and 132/88 were just a bit higher than the exercise alone group. These results certainly suggest that some mild hyper tensives are able to control their blood pressure simply by enrolling in a good excercise program. Johns Hopkins rehabilitation specialist Kerry Stewart, Ed.D., coinvestigator (with a cardiologist) on the study, adds that it may be possible for some men v/ho are already taking drugs to gradually (under their doctor's supervision, of course) "wean" themselves off those drugs or at least get by on lower doses.