Meditation for High Blood Pressure

描述（由申请人提供）：高血压是一个主要的公众 这一健康问题影响着美国近25%的成年人 并通过以下方式增加发病率和死亡率的风险： 心血管和肾脏疾病。虽然抗高血压药物 通常有效治疗高血压，非药物疗法 被认为是重要的一线或连续治疗血液 压力管理各种放松和压力管理技巧 已经测试了它们对血压控制的潜在贡献 通过减压。在这些干预措施中，冥想训练 作为一种预防性的行为治疗， 血压. 这个项目调查冥想训练计划的有效性 用于降低血压。这项为期3年的研究是一项随机、 对照临床试验，包括120名成年男性和女性高血压患者 或是从社区招募的正常高血压患者在延长 筛选和基线测试，受试者将被随机分配到 接受实验性冥想训练计划（N = 60），接受 渐进式肌肉放松训练计划，作为安慰剂对照 （N = 30），或继续常规护理（N = 30）。治疗后检测将 在培训开始后的1、2和3个月进行。治疗结果将 通过基于实验室的和24小时动态测量的变化进行评估， 从基线到随访的血压。此外，该研究还将测试 减压是否是一种合理的机制，可以解释临床 结果，使用神经内分泌和 压力的主观测量。最后，研究将调查 对这种治疗反应最好的人的特征， 那些开始训练时压力较大的人， 焦虑症患者的血压和压力指标比焦虑症患者的血压和压力指标有更大的改善。 那些开始水平较低的人。 冥想训练可能是一种具有成本效益的非药物治疗， 高血压的治疗这次试验的结果将推进 我们对这种行为干预的潜在好处的理解， 它的运作机制，以及什么样的人会受益 大部分从它。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): High blood pressure is a major public health problem that affects nearly 25 percent of adults in the United States and contributes to increased risks of morbidity and mortality via cardiovascular and renal diseases. Although anti-hypertensive medications are often effective in the treatment of hypertension, non-pharmacological therapies are recognized as important first-line or adjunctive treatments for blood pressure management. A variety of relaxation and stress management techniques have been tested for their potential contributions to blood pressure control through stress reduction. Among these interventions, meditation training has shown the greatest promise as an adjunctive behavioral treatment for lowering blood pressure. This project investigates the effectiveness of a meditation-training program for the reduction of blood pressure. The 3-year study is a randomized, controlled clinical trial involving 120 adult men and women with hypertension or high-normal blood pressure recruited from the community. After extended screening and baseline testing, participants will be assigned at random to receive the experimental meditation training program (N= 60), to receive a progressive muscle relaxation training program that serves as a placebo control (N = 30), or to continue with usual care (N= 30). Post-treatment testing will be conducted 1, 2, and 3 months after training begins. Treatment outcome will be assessed by changes in laboratory-based and 24-hour ambulatory measures of blood pressure from baseline to follow-up. In addition, the study will test whether stress-reduction is a plausible mechanism that can account for clinical outcomes, using measurements of treatment-related changes in neuroendocrine and subjective measures of stress. Finally, the study will investigate the characteristics of those who respond best to this treatment and determine whether those individuals who begin training with higher levels of stress and anxiety show greater improvements in blood pressure and measures of stress than those who begin with lower levels. Meditation training may be a cost-effective non-pharmacological treatment for the management of high blood pressure. The results of this trial will advance our understanding of the potential benefits of this behavioral intervention, the mechanisms through which it works, and the kind of person who will benefit most from it.