New article: Breathing exercise reduces high blood pressure read more at here http://www.spinonews.com/index.php/medical-news/item/3366-breathing-exercise-reduces-high-blood-pressure

Researchers detect an unusual activity between neurons controlling breathing and blood pressure during the development of essential hypertension.

Essential hypertension is high blood pressure that doesn't have a known secondary cause. It also refers as primary hypertension. It is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease and affects 30% of the global population.

Professor Andrew Allen, Lead researcher of the study, says, the research parallels what sports people and eastern philosophies such as yoga and pranayama have long understood about the link between breathing and heart rate.

Neurons represent a potential target for therapies to prevent hypertension from manifesting in middle age. However, researchers say that any intervention should be done early while the nervous system is still plastic.

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In adulthood stage, the interaction between these neural circuits becomes fixed and any reductions in blood pressure from breathing adjustments appear to be temporary.

The research uncovered the activity between circuits of neurons that regulate breathing rates and the blood pressure in an animal model. By interrupting the activity between these two groups of neurons during teens, researchers were able to dramatically reduce development of high blood pressure in adulthood.

Breathing and blood pressure are functionally linked through the sympathetic nervous system, which sends nerve signals to the heart and blood vessels. The altered neural activity leads to increased fluctuations in blood pressure with every breath and are seen in both the animal model and young, healthy adults at risk of developing high blood pressure in middle age.

 

The research highlights the need to identify people at risk of developing high blood pressure early. Many people with essential hypertension are otherwise healthy, active adults who eat a balanced diet and show no symptoms.