Blood pressure is like a health meter that tells us how well our heart and blood vessels are working. Just like we measure the pressure of a car’s tires, doctors measure blood pressure to make sure our heart is healthy.
When the pressure is too high, we call this hypertension or high blood pressure. It’s bad news because it can lead to serious problems like losing eyesight, having strokes, or heart attacks.
Doctors get serious about high blood pressure. They will usually ask patients to change their diet and do more exercises.
If this doesn’t help, they prescribe medicines to bring down the pressure. But guess what? Scientists have now found a new, easy, and fun way to reduce blood pressure, and it’s called resistance-breathing training.
What is Resistance-Breathing Training?
So, you’re wondering what this big word – resistance-breathing training – means. Well, it’s as simple as breathing in and out of a small device called a POWERbreathe.
Think of it as a workout tool for your lungs. Just like lifting weights makes your arm muscles stronger, this tool makes your breathing muscles stronger. And the best part is, it can help reduce high blood pressure.
The POWERbreathe device has been around for some time, helping athletes, singers, and people with weak lungs. But now, researchers think it can help everyone, even people who are unable to exercise.
How the Study Was Conducted
To find out if this device works, some researchers from the University of Colorado, the University of Arizona, and Alma College in the U.S. did a study.
They asked some healthy volunteers to use the POWERbreathe device every day for six weeks.
In every session, each volunteer breathed in and out using the device 30 times. Imagine blowing up a balloon 30 times, and you’ll get the idea.
Before they started the training and after they finished, the researchers measured the volunteers’ blood pressure.
The Exciting Results
After six weeks, the researchers found some exciting results. They noticed that the volunteers’ blood pressure dropped on average by 9 mmHg.
That’s a big deal because it’s the same kind of drop you’d see if you started taking some blood pressure medicines or started a good exercise routine, like walking, cycling, or running.
What This Means for Everyone
This is good news because it shows that a simple tool like the POWERbreathe can help lower blood pressure. It’s especially useful for people who cannot exercise for any reason.
But remember, even if the POWERbreathe can help lower blood pressure, it’s still important to eat a healthy diet and stay active.
Always listen to your doctor’s advice, and if you have any questions about your blood pressure or using a device like the POWERbreathe, make sure you ask. Health is wealth, so let’s do everything we can to stay healthy and strong!
If you care about blood pressure, please read studies about how diets could help lower high blood pressure, and 3 grams of omega-3s a day keep high blood pressure at bay.
For more information about nutrition, please see recent studies that beetroot juice could help reduce blood pressure, and results showing cinnamon could help lower high blood pressure.
The study was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
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