00:00Hypertension or high blood pressure has reached epidemic proportions today.
00:05Much of this is due to the lifestyles we live in modern society.
00:10One of the chief factors contributing to hypertension is the poor lifestyle that is almost imposed
00:18on us by modern city life.
00:21Highly processed foods containing high concentrations of sugar and salt and packed with empty calories
00:28lead to obesity, one of the leading causes of hypertension.
00:33Then, modern city life provides very few opportunities for exercise, as we drive to work, take the
00:41bus to school, or ride the subway to the next station.
00:45As a consequence, most of us live sedentary lifestyles, a leaving risk factor for hypertension.
00:52A third factor that promotes the onset of hypertension is the level of stress we experience in busy,
01:01bustling cities as we struggle to manage jobs that sometimes entail working for 60 or more
01:08hours per week.
01:11Stress causes the activation of a fight-or-flight nervous system, formerly known as the sympathetic
01:19nervous system.
01:20Any time the fight-or-flight nervous system becomes activated, adrenaline and, at a later
01:28time, cortisol are pumped into the circulation.
01:32Adrenaline increases the heart rate and the pumping force of the heart, and this causes our
01:38blood pressure to rise.
01:40The fight-or-flight nervous system is partially controlled by higher centers in our brain, and
01:47these centers react sensitively to any stressors in our lives.
01:53This means that for the most part, the more the stress in our lives, the higher our blood
02:00pressure tends to be.
02:02One simple way to control this stress and cool down the fight-or-flight response is to engage
02:09in meditation.
02:13Multiple randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses suggest that blood pressure can be lowered by stress-reducing
02:21activities such as transcendental meditation and mindfulness meditation.
02:27These can be considered relaxation techniques to lower blood pressure.
02:33Just 15 to 20 minutes a day of transcendental meditation or mindfulness meditation can lower the
02:42systolic blood pressure and the diastolic blood pressure.
02:47The systolic blood pressure is lowered approximately by 5 mmHg and the diastolic by 3 mmHg.
02:55These are evidence-supported ways to lower blood pressure naturally.
03:01Meditation for reducing blood pressure was shown to work better in people with established hypertension
03:09than for people with borderline hypertension.
03:13But everyone benefited from meditation.
03:18Meditation produces a small to moderate decrease in blood pressure.
03:24But that moderate decrease is statistically significant and should translate into a meaningful decrease
03:32in the rate of heart attacks and strokes in persons who practice meditation regularly.
03:38That being said, meditation is not a substitute for a healthy lifestyle and medication.
03:46Meditation is an adjunct to days.
03:49Patients with hypertension must continue to follow their hypertension treatment.
03:54Some studies have shown that people with difficult-to-control blood pressure can sometimes control their blood pressure
04:01with the addition of meditation.
04:03And persons with borderline hypertension who are struggling to control their blood pressure
04:09by lifestyle changes alone may discover that meditation provides additional benefit.
04:17I hope you enjoyed this video.
04:19I hope you found it useful.
04:20If you did, like and share the video with your friends and family.
04:24You can support this channel by subscribing.
04:28Until the next video, stay healthy and stay safe.
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