JAMA Internal Medicine Feb 24, 2014 showed that if you are a senior taking blood pressure drugs you significantly increase the risk of falls. Hip fractures, broken bones, major head injuries.

If you have fallen once and you stay on the meds your odds are doubled of falling again. The falls are often worse than the strokes and heart attacks they are prescribed to prevent. The more HBP drugs the worse your odds. "most patients are on 10 plus medications by the time they are 70".

"The potential harm and death associated with serious falls and injuries from blood pressure drugs are about the same or worse than stroke and heart attacks combined."  Taking blood pressure meds except in extreme cases is just not worth it. Consult your health professional for the nutrients (cod liver oil yes Flomax NO) for that and make sure you develop your breathing.

Blood pressure reduction with breathing development

Grossman E, Grossman A, Schein MH, Zimlichman R, Gavish B.

Internal Medicine D, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel. gross-e@zahav.net.il

We hypothesize that routinely applied short sessions of slow and regular breathing can lower blood pressure (BP). Using a new technology BIM (Breathe with Interactive Music), hypertensive patients were guided towards slow and regular breathing.

The present study evaluates the efficacy of the BIM in lowering BP. We studied 33 patients (23M/10F), aged 25-75 years, with uncontrolled BP. Patients were randomized into either active treatment with the BIM (n = 18) or a control treatment with a Walkman (n = 15).

Treatment at home included either musically-guided breathing exercises with the BIM or listening to quiet music played by a Walkman for 10 min daily for 8 weeks. BP and heart rate were measured both at the clinic and at home with an Omron IC BP monitor. Clinic BP levels were measured at baseline, and after 4 and 8 weeks of treatment.

Home BP measurements were taken daily, morning and evening, throughout the study. The two groups were matched by initial BP, age, gender, body mass index and medication status. The BP change at the clinic was -7.5/-4.0 mm Hg in the active treatment group, vs -2.9/-1.5 mm Hg in the control group (P = 0.001 for systolic BP). Analysis of home-measured data showed an average BP change of -5.0/-2.7 mm Hg in the active treatment group and -1.2/+0.9 mm Hg in the control group.

Ten out of 18 (56%) were defined as responders in the active treatment group but only two out of 14 (14%) in the control group (P = 0.02). Thus, breathing exercise guided by the BIM device for 10 min daily is an effective non-pharmacological modality to reduce BP. PMID 11319675 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

BREATHING EXERCISES

We have found that "breathing exercises" mean many things to many people and as a grouping is a potpourri of good, mediocre, bad, confusing and outright dangerously unhealthy ways for using the breath and breathing. 

We carefully choose what breathing exercises we DO employ based upon physical function, form and the health, peak performance, self expression, emotional balance and life extension goals of our students. 

Breathing development and exercises for reducing or eliminating blood pressure

Better Breathing Exercise #1