Journal of Clinical Hypertension, 2006, Vol 8, Issue 5, Supl A,. P- 79.

Blood pressure change following 8-week, 15-minute daily treatment with paced breathing guided by a device:
a korean multi-center study

Jong H Bae, MD1, Jae H Kim, MD2, Kyung H Choe, MD3, Soon P Hong, MD4, Kee S Kim, MD5, Cheol H Kim, MD6and Wo H Kim, MD7. 1Cardiology Dept., Kyunghee Medical Center, Seoul, Korea; 2Cardiology Dept., Catholic Universtiy ST. Paul's Hospital,, Seoul, Korea; 3Cardiovascular Diseases Dept., Yonsei University, Wonju Christian Hospital, Wonju, Korea; 4Medical school, Chosun University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea; 5Cardiology Dept., Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center, Daegu, Korea; 6Internal Medicine Dept., Seoul National University, Bundang Hospital, Seoul, Korea and 7Cardiology Dept., Chonbuk National University Hospital, jeonju, Korea.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of device-guided breathing in reducing uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) in the Korean population, if used 15 minutes daily at home for 8 weeks.

Methods: A total number of 70 patients with uncontrolled hypertension, stably medicated or unmedicated, were recruited from 7 centers. Office BP was measured at baseline (2 visits) and twice during the treatment period (at 4 and 8 weeks). Treatment included 15-minute daily use of the device (RESPeRATE, InterCure Ltd., Israel), which guides the user to slow breathing at the home setting. Clinical outcomes were baseline-to-end changes in the systolic and diastolic BP. Patients compliance was monitored by the device and expressed by average minutes/week spent in breathing below 10 breaths/min ("slow breathing").

Results:

  1. Patients characteristics (mean values) were 57% males; age 56 years; BMI 25 kg/m2; BP 151/90 mmHg and 66% on anti-hypertensive medications.
  2. Highly significant reductions were observed in BP (12.6 / 5.3 mmHg, p<0.001) and in Pulse Pressure (7.1 mmHg, p<0.001 ).
  3. Reductions increased significantly for greater baseline BP (p<0.001) and older age (p<0.1/p<0.02).
  4. 81% of patients were responders to the treatment and stage of hypertension reduced in 63% in response to the treatment.
  5. No side effects were observed.
  6. Gender, BMI medication status had no effect on outcomes.
  7. Patient compliance was significantly higher than a recommended threshold of 45 "slow breathing" minutes per week (p<0.001).
Conclusions: Paced breathing guided by the RESPeRATE device is an effective new modality to treat Korean hypertensive patients with uncontrolled blood pressure independently of other given treatments. Results are consistent with previous findings in other populations.