We have conducted a cross-cultural (USA and USSR) comparison of thermal biofeedback (TBF) and autogenic training (AT) to a self-relaxation control condition in 59 unmedicated males with mild hypertension. Identical assessment and treatment protocols were carried out in both settings (Albany, New York, and Moscow). Treatments were delivered in small groups on an outpatient basis twice per week for 10 weeks. Results showed comparable, significant (p < .05), short-term decreases (M = 8.5 mm Hg) in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) for both treatments at both sites. However, the Soviet patients, starting with significantly {p < .01) higher systolic blood pressures Requests for reprints should be sent to
We examined 117 outpatients (20-to 45-year-old men) with mild essential hypertension before treatment, after the main treatment course (6 weeks), and at 12-month follow-up. The patients were randomized into two major groups: (a) a treatment group that received autogenic training (23 patients), biofeedback (24 patients), or breathing-relaxation training (23 patients) and (b) a control group that consisted of 24 patients who did not receive any intervention and 23 patients who were treated with a "psychological placebo." Clinical, psychological, and psychophysiological data from all patients who were offered relaxation therapy were analyzed. By the end of follow-up, and compared to the control group, the treatment group demonstrated a significant reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressures, peripheral vascular resistance, and hypertensive response to emotional stress, and an improvement in psychological adaptation, quality of life, and capacity for work. Comparative analysis of the efficacy of different relaxation methods revealed that biofeedback and breathing-relaxation training resulted in the greatest reduction in blood pressure. The antihypertensive effect of relaxation therapy correlated positively with pretreatment blood pressure levels and negatively with the duration of illness and certain psychological features.
Left ventricular (LV) mass is a predictor of morbidity in patients with hypertension. To elucidate the mechanisms of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in primary hypertension, we examined the relationships of LV mass, Requests for reprints should be sent to
Cardiovascular reactivity (heart rate, systolic, and diastolic BP) to mental arithmetic and cold pressor were measured before and after treatment as part of the cross-cultural (USSR and USA) evaluation of thermal biofeedback and autogenic training (in comparison with self-relaxation) as treatments for mild hypertension in unmedicated males. There were no statistically reliable decreases in cardiovascular reactivity from before to after treatment. However, downward shifts in basal levels of systolic and diastolic BP at post-treatment led treated patients to have lower stress-induced levels of BP.
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