Efficacy of relaxation techniques in hypertensive patients.

Abstract

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.

Superposition effect and clan structure in forward-backward multiplicity correlations

“…(49B), the general trend of the b energy dependence from ISR up to top pp CERN Collider energy obtained by superimposing soft and semi-hard components effects is correctly reproduced. It agrees in particular with the phenomenological fit proposed by different Collaborations [5,9] in the full range, i.e., b = −0.019 + 0.061 ln s (dotted line in Figs. 1 and 2).…”

“…In order to avoid correlations due to kinematical constraints like phase-space limits and energy momentum conservation occurring at the border of the rapidity range available in the collision, and short range correlations produced from particle sources in more central rapidity intervals, the study has been performed in the pseudo-rapidity interval 1 < |η| < 4. It has been found that b parameter is equal to 0.43 ± 0.01, a much larger value than that found at lower energy (ISR and EHS) [3,4,5], e.g., b = 0.156 ± 0.013 at 63 GeV c.m. energy.…”

“…Forward-backward (FB) multiplicity correlations have been studied in hadron-hadron collisions and e + e − annihilation [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. It has been found that these correlations are much stronger in hadron-hadron collisions than in e + e − annihilation.…”

Bubble chambers in high energy hadron collisions (and vice versa)

“…They have led to the conclusion that i) correlations are strong and ii) depend on the charge combination. Recently, a comparison [57] of particle production in meson-proton and e+e" collisions has shown strik ing similarity (Fig. 23).…”

“…Normalized correlation function ^2° (2/1 » 3/2) at -l < y i < 0 in the non-single-diffractive meson-proton sample at ^ß -2 2 GeV compared to e+e" -annihilation at 14 GeV [57].…”