Impact of Yoga on Blood Pressure, Quality of Life and Stress in Patients With Hypertension

Hypertension is one of the most common diseases in the world, affecting approximately 26% of the adult population. Persistent hypertension increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases, such as heart failure. Hypertension is a common diagnosis in primary health care and the societal costs of examination and treatment of hypertension and its consequences are considerable.

The YHIP-study (The Impact of Yoga on Blood Pressure and Quality of Life in Patients With Hypertension), that investigated yoga as additional treatment for hypertension on primary care patients, showed that a short yoga program practiced daily at home had a blood pressure lowering effect as well as a positive effect on self-rated quality of life compared to control.

Other previous studies have demonstrated positive effects of yoga on blood pressure, quality of life, subjective well-being and stress. However, these studies are relatively few and we need to further investigate the possibility of using yoga as a treatment in primary health care.

If the yoga intervention shows to be effective, yoga exercises may be useful as a supplementary BP therapy in addition to medical treatment when prescribed by primary care physicians. It is to be hoped that patients will also experience a higher quality of life and less stress if they perform yoga on a regular basis.

Inclusion criteria

• 30-80 years old
• Diagnosed with hypertension since at least one year
• Blood pressure 130-160 mm Hg systolic and/or 85-100 diastolic at the last blood pressure control by doctor or nurse.
• Blood pressure within inclusion- and exclusion-limits at baseline control

Exclusion criteria

• Blood pressure outside the range of 120-180 systolic and 80-110 diastolic at the last blood pressure control or at baseline control.
• Medical adjustments regarding hypertension within 4 weeks prior to begin of study.
• Expected inability to understand instructions about yoga exercises (e.g dementia and mental retardation) or physical or psychical inability to carry out yoga exercises (e.g severe physical or psychical handicap).
• Need for interpreter. Linguistic/language difficulties