Physical Wellness

Cell Phones May Raise Blood Pressure, but Yoga May Lower It

By Makini Brice | Update Date: May 17, 2013 01:50 PM EDT

Talking on a cell phone may elevate blood pressure, while practicing yoga may lower it.

According to the Telegraph, a study was performed with 94 patients who had mild hypertension and were an average age of 53 years old. Normal blood pressure is considered to be 130/80, while 140/90 is considered to be high. The researchers performed blood pressure readings 12 times, one minute apart. The researchers also called the participants at least three times over the course of the study.

The researchers found that, when participants received a call or spoke on the phone, their blood pressure elevated from an average of 121/77 to 129/82. Interestingly, he effect was least prominent in people who received an average of 30 or greater calls a day.

The subset of patients who were more accustomed to phone use were younger, which could show younger people are less prone to be disturbed by telephone intrusions," study author Dr. Guiseppe Crippa said. "Another possibility is people who make more than thirty calls per day may feel more reassured if the mobile phone is activated since they are not running the risk of missing an opportunity." The study was presented at a conference for the American Society of Hypertension in Boston.

It seems that people stressed out from phone calls may derive some benefit from practicing yoga. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension looked at the potential effects of yoga for 58 men and women between the ages of 38 and 62 years old over the course of 24 weeks.

According to Relaxnews, practicing yoga two to three times a week dropped the people's blood pressure from an average of 133/80 to 130/77. Meanwhile, people who followed a special diet but did not practice yoga saw a similar but less substantial decline, from 134/83 to 132/82. MedPage Today reports that the study indicates that yoga may be able to help people who have a suspicion of pharmaceutical interventions, but it suggests that there is a limit to the benefits of these non-medical solutions.

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