The relaxation response can elicit a fall of four to five systolic points and two to three points of diastolic pressure. That’s good, but it’s not clinically significant. Certainly one feels better when using the relaxation response, and I try to work it into my own life regularly.

But for really effective hypertension benefits, we need something more potent. One such method appears to be biofeedback. Dr Keith Sedlacek discusses this fully in his book The Sedlacek Technique: Finding the Calm Within You (1989). In research at St Luke’s Hospital in New York, he worked with hypertensive patients who practised biofeedback techniques for as little as 10 weeks. They averaged a reduction of 14 points systolic and 12 points diastolic.

The patients in Dr Sedlacek’s study suffered from hypertension for more than two years, and 27 out of 30 were on medication. Pressures fell from an average of 144/95 to 130/83. Many patients were able to significantly reduce their need for antihypertensive drugs.

Biofeedback may or may not be the answer for you. It does take a degree of effort and commitment, and skills get better as one practises on a regular basis. It’s not quite as simple as doing a breathing exercise or utilising the relaxation response. For the most thorough and intensive biofeedback experience you may wish to consider working with a professional counsellor. He or she can train and coach you in techniques whereby you control your body’s response to the environment. All practitioners utilise some manner of “feeding back” information as to how well you’re responding.

In the most elaborate set-ups, patients are literally “wired” to detect their body temperature, heart rate, breathing and palm sweatiness. It is, in effect, the apparatus used in lie detection. On a lesser, much simpler, level one may use an ordinary fever thermometer held in the grip of the hand to monitor temperature changes. Some utilise specially designed strips or rings which remind one of the mood ring fad of some years ago but which are more accurate today.

The first step is to relax the body and mind. The procedure typically is deep breathing and/or variations on the relaxation technique. Once the person is fairly relaxed and receptive to further calming, he or she will concentrate on increasing the body’s temperature. He or she breathes in and out regularly and in a controlled manner. The concentration on the body’s temperature and breathing, as well as on heart rate in some cases, enables one to remove oneself from surrounding stresses and pressures of life. To aid the concentration, one looks at the thermometer, ring, strip or other device now and then to gauge progress.

As I’ve said, practice makes perfect. At each session, one attempts greater and greater control over the heat-generating capability and the speed at which improvement in calming is “fed back”. Does it work? Indeed it does for many thousands who have given it a real trial.

*131\85\2*

Cardio & Blood/ Cholesterol

The other mineral in the blood pressure equation is calcium. When Dr David McCarron of Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland first suggested that calcium deficiencies in the diet might be correlated with hypertension, many were sceptical. Today additional studies appear to corroborate his initial beliefs.

One cardiovascular benefit derived from calcium is a lessening of high blood pressure. Another study demonstrated a 23 per cent decrease in hypertension in women getting an 800-milligram calcium supplement.

Dr McCarron does not advocate unlimited sodium intake to be negated by calcium supplements or extra glasses of milk. Rather, he says, there appears to be a threshold at which if one has a very low dietary calcium intake there is more likely to be an incidence of hypertension. Rather than limiting sodium in such patients, the better approach may be to increase calcium.

How much calcium do you need? The recommendation here is the same as for all healthy adults, 800 milligrams per day. That’s about what you’d get from two 225 ml glasses of milk and 30 g of cheese or a cup of yoghurt. Of course you’ll want to make those the low-fat or non-fat types. Other foods including salmon and sardines with bones intact, leafy green vegetables, and sesame seeds are also calcium sources. For those not getting enough in the diet, calcium supplements should be considered.

While magnesium has been mentioned as another mineral to be considered in hypertension control, data do not appear to bear out the hypothesis. In one study at Wayne State University, patients with mild hypertension received 480 milligrams of magnesium for three months. At Harvard, subjects got 360 milligrams for two months. At the conclusion of the studies, blood pressure was no lower for those getting the magnesium than for those getting a placebo.

*130\85\2*

Cardio & Blood/ Cholesterol