The Hindu : New Delhi News : Relax, laugh to control high BP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 22, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Relax, laugh to control high BP

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 21 . With four in every 10 Indians suffering from high blood pressure, health experts are now advocating alternate therapies like relaxation techniques, dietary control and humour therapy to treat it rather than medicines alone.

Around 5.3 lakh Indians die of hypertension-related coronary disease every year and the figure is likely to double each year, medical experts say.

It has been found in a study from northern India that incidence of hypertension increased from 3.98 per cent in 1963 to 26.78 in 2000 among men while the cases rose from 6.647 per cent to 27.65 per cent among women.

Sedentary lifestyle and faulty dietary patterns are the major causes which lead to a steady increase in the number of hypertension patients, numbering around 45 million, especially in urban areas where around 25-30 per cent cases being found as compared to 10-15 per cent among rural subjects.

``Physical exercise, Yoga, relaxation techniques and nutritional diet help in lowering blood pressure levels and controlling mental and psychological stress. So these therapies are initially recommended to hypertension patients,'' says Dr Srikant K. Reddy, cardiologist, AIIMS. Hypertension cannot be detected at the initial stages and symptoms are visible only when the body organs like kidney, eyes, heart and arteries get affected, he says. Therefore, regular physical and relaxation exercises help in preventing the onset of hypertension or high blood pressure, Reddy adds.

Among the patients, genetic, social and environmental factors, chronic psychological stress, excessive salt intake, obesity, sedentary life-style, smoking, drinking and faulty dietary patterns are found to be more common causes of the persistent high blood pressure.

As a first step to control hypertension, doctors recommend patients to change faulty dietary patterns which include reduction of sodium chloride salt, intake of calorie-restricted diet, more potassium contained fruits and vegetables, says Mukesh Batra, a Mumbai-based cardiologist. The cases that are detected at an early stage and have not yet developed any complications are generally recommended the non-drug therapies but in severe cases, allopathic, ayurvedic and homeopathic medicines are used for treatment, he adds.

But the non-drug therapies have proved helpful in curing the disease at the earliest which work effectively with drugs, he adds. Humour therapy is one of the non-drug technique that reduces stress hormones and increases levels of disease fighting proteins called Gamma-interferon and B cells, which produce disease-destroying anti-bodies, says Dr Batra.

Besides, laugh also enhances immune system and helps in muscles relaxation, he adds. With the rise in stress-related cases, the number of body-care centres and institutes imparting recreational therapies and yoga courses have also increased in a conspicuous manner. ``Urban women generally go for the recreational exercise, including yoga and aerobics, as the cases are more common among them who suffer from double stress -- pressure from home as well from office,'' says Dr K.K. Agrawal, cardiologist.

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