Nonpharmacological Therapy & Hypertension

Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, affects about 50 million Americans, or about one in every four of the adult population. Although anyone can develop hypertension, it is more prevalent among special populations. These groups include the elderly, African Americans, residents of the Southeastern portion of the United States, and the less educated segment of society (Young, 1995, p 302). Hypertension is rare or unknown among primitive human cultures (Dubbert, 1995, p. 188). After menopause, women are more likely to have high blood pressure than men, reversing a gender trend that exists during the early and middle adult years.

The precise cause of hypertension is often difficult to determine. A person with secondary hypertension has a reversible caus

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rograms" (U.S. Department of Health, 1990, p. 9). Aerobic activities include swimming, brisk walking, running, and jumping rope. These types of activities condition the heart and lungs by making the body use oxygen to make energy. The main benefits of exercise in the hypertension regimen comes from its efficacy in weight reduction, as opposed to its role as an independent behavioral treatment. According to Dubbert (1995) the results of most studies on the independent value of increased physical activity have been conflicting. No large-scale trials have been performed; the smaller studies on the subject have left many important questions unanswered. In general, exercise may contribute to a sense of well-being, which is a focus of stress management, stress being a contributing factor to elevated levels of blood pressure. Since the early 1970s, behavioral therapy has been used in the treatment of hypertension, with mixed results. The employment of stress management techniques such as transcendental meditation, relaxation training, biofeedback, hatha yoga, and hypnosis is based on the assumption that a person can control the central nervous system response to stress. Biofeedback, in particular, uses visual or auditory signals
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Approximate Word count = 2235
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)