Perfect Breathing

Can you take fewer than 10 slow, deep breaths a minute? The National Institutes of Health reports that new research suggests breathing that slowly for a few minutes a day is enough to help some people nudge down bad blood pressure. An NIH studyy suggests that how we breathe may be key to how the body regulates blood pressure -- and that it has less to do with relaxation than with breaking down the salt most of us eat.

Why would a brief breathing interlude work? Work at the NIH postulates that how we breathe may be key to how the body regulates blood pressure. Dr. David Anderson is attempting to prove it, with the help of a special device that trains volunteers with hypertension to slow-breathe. His work could shed new light on the intersection between hypertension, stress and diet.

He speculates that "under-breathing" throughout the day, coupled with a high salt intake, causes your kidneys to be less effective at getting rid of the salt than if you're out exercising. Anderson heads research into behavior and hypertension at the NIH's National Institute on Aging.

Roughly 65 million Americans have high blood pressure, putting them at increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, kidney damage, blindness and dementia. Many don't know it. Hypertension is often called the silent killer, because patients may not notice symptoms until it already has done serious damage.

Anyone can get high blood pressure, measured as a level of 140 over 90 or more. But being overweight and inactive, and eating too much salt -- Americans eat nearly double the upper limit for otpimal health -- increases the risk. Indeed, losing weight, physical activity and cutting sodium are the most effective lifestyle changes people can make to lower blood pressure. Still, most hypertension patients need medications, too.

While science knows the risk factors, scientists don't fully understand the root causes of hypertension.

Meditation, yoga and similar relaxation techniques that incorporate slow, deep breathing have long been thought to aid blood pressure, although research to date has been inconclusive.

The Food and Drug Administration in 2002 cleared the nonprescription sale of a medical device called RESPeRATE, to help lower blood pressure by pacing breathing. The Internet-sold device counts breaths by sensing chest or abdominal movement, and sounds gradually slowing chimes that signal when to inhale and exhale. In clinical trials funded by maker InterCure Inc., people who used the slow-breathing device for 15 minutes a day for two months saw their blood pressure drop 10-15 points. It's not supposed to be a substitute for diet, exercise or medication, but an addition to standard treatment.

Why slow-breathing works is still unclear, but the results are promising. Read the full NIH report.

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Don Campbell and Al Lee are the authors of Perfect Breathing: Transform Your Life One Breath At A Time (Sterling Publishng/2008) and write, speak, train, and blog tirelessly on the subject. Discover more ways you can improve your health, performance, and wellbeing at www.perfectbreathing.com. Reach them at info [at] perfectbreathing [dot] com or call 1-888-317-6718.