Chronobiometric assessment of autogenic training effects upon blood pressure and heart rate

Yoshihiko Watanabe, Germaine G Cornelissen-Guillaume, Franz Halberg, Yoshiaki Saito, Katsuhiko Fukuda, Kuniaki Otsuka, Takenori Kikuchi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Autogenic training, a method of self-hypnosis, lowers the extent of within-day variation of systolic blood pressure assessed by the circadian double amplitude. The blood pressure and heart rate of ten patients, conventionally diagnosed as having hypertension or white-coat hypertension, were automatically monitored at 30-min. intervals for 7 days before autogenic training and again for 7 days, at 1 or 2 months after the start of autogenic training (practiced three times daily). The circadian double amplitude of systolic blood pressure of the patients investigated was 3 to 17 mm Hg lower on autogenic training. In 5 patients, reductions by 7 to 17 mm Hg were statistically significant. These results are regarded as provisional statistics, the utility of which depends on replication. By contrast, the over-all group reduction of the circadian double amplitude of systolic blood pressure by 8 mm Hg on the average can be taken at face value. Autogenic training also lowered the circadian double amplitude of diastolic blood pressure, but the effect was small as was the effect of autogenic training upon the MESOR (a rhythm adjusted mean) and acrophase (a measure of the timing of over-all high values recurring each day). The effect of autogenic training upon the circadian double amplitude of systolic blood pressure suggests its trial as first-line treatment of patients with an excessive circadian blood pressure amplitude, a condition which, even in the absence of an elevated 24-hr. average of blood pressure, is associated with a large increase in the risk of developing ischemic stroke or nephropathy.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1395-1410
Number of pages16
JournalPerceptual and motor skills
Volume85
Issue number3 PART 2
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1996

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