In the simplest of terms, heart/cardiovascular disease, the No.1 cause of death in the United States and in most countries today, is any condition that adversely affects the heart muscle or its blood vessels, ultimately resulting in the heart’s inability to pump enough blood to maintain the body’s systems. There are many types of heart disease, among them atherosclerosis, angina, arrhythmia and coronary artery disease, which is the most prevalent. All are greatly exacerbated by the presence of hypertension, which is simply the medical name for high blood pressure; the terms are used interchangeably. (See our Recommendations).
"Connecting the mind, body and emotions, HeartMath offers a quickly learned scientifically validated approach to decreasing stress and impacting cardiac risk factors such as: high blood pressure, diabetes, arrhythmia and chest pain. Everyone needs to learn these techniques."
—Mimi Guarneri, MD, FACC, Medical Director Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine
Hypertension: The Silent Killer
One of the leading causes of heart attack and stroke and a major risk factor for developing heart disease is hypertension, widely known as the "silent killer" because the majority of people who have it don’t know it because there are no apparent symptoms. If you know you have high blood pressure you must act now to control it. If you don’t know whether you have it, it’s easy to check for it. High blood pressure can lead to heart attack, heart failure, stroke and kidney disease.
"Nearly 1 in 3 American adults has high blood pressure."
—Mimi Guarneri, MD, FACC, Medical Director Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine
Do You Have High Blood Pressure?
The numbers are straightforward: Normal blood pressure is considered to be 120/80, with the first number representing the force of pressure exerted on the arteries, veins and heart chambers when the heart is contracting, or pumping blood out; and the second number is the pressure when the heart is not contracting, or filling with blood. If your blood pressure is 120-139 over 80-89 you have prehypertension. If you’re at 140/90 or higher, you have hypertension. There are a number of places where you can have your blood pressure checked, including doctors’ offices, clinics and drugstores, and there are home kits available.
Your risk for high blood pressure is greater if any of the following apply to you:
High level of anger, stress, anxiety, worry or fear. Examples include high anxiety over global stress, the environment and the future of the world.
Overweight, your diet includes foods high in salt or fat, and you’re not physically active.
Any family members have high blood pressure.
Although the medical community is aware of the predictors, such as the above risk factors, that contribute to high blood pressure, and the dangers it poses, there is no known cause in a large majority of cases. It is only in a small percentage of hypertension cases that causes are known, among them other medical problems and the medications people take.
Recommended
If you’re concerned about anger, stress, anxiety, worry, fear or anger in your life or someone else’s, check out the following HeartMath books, which also are available as e-booklets or in audio programs:
Transforming Stress:Childre, Rozman, 2004. Learn about the warning signs of chronic stress and how your "intelligent heart" can help you immediately begin reducing the stress in your life.
Transforming Anxiety,Childre, Rozman, 2006 – Gives an in-depth look at why anxiety disorders are plaguing so many in today’s fast-paced world and how you can use the HeartMath System to overcome fear and worry and create more serenity in your life.
Transforming Anger,Childre, Rozman, 2003 – If you’re unable to control your anger, this book offers practical tools to help you succeed. Your heart has an intelligence all its own that you can tap to manage anger, stress and much more.
The Institute of HeartMath conducts scientific research and clinical studies in partnership with numerous universities, among them Stanford, Duke and the University of North Carolina. Many studies have examined how stress can lead to high blood pressure, and several have involved providing HeartMath stress-reduction techniques and heart-rhythm coherence-building technologies to help reduce high blood pressure. Among the findings in these studies is that although there are multiple mechanisms and complex interactions involved, accumulated stress clearly activates changes in the autonomic nervous and hormonal systems that can lead to sustained high blood pressure. The HeartMath System was found to be an effective approach in reducing the stress associated with high blood pressure.
At the same time that HeartMath has been researching the connection between stress and high blood pressure, we’ve also been busy developing and demonstrating programs and tools to help people manage stress levels, anger and anxiety and transform their emotions using their "heart intelligence."
Chris, a 45-year-old business executive whose family had a history of heart disease, was feeling extremely stressed, fatigued and generally in poor emotional health. After reviewing test results, his doctor told him it was critical for him to reduce his stress. He recommended practicing emotional restructuring techniques developed by the Institute of HeartMath. First, his wife noticed a transformation, then his co-workers, staff and friends. New tests six weeks after undergoing the initial analysis confirmed his stress level was down and his heart rate, which had been dangerously high, was now near normal.
After practicing HeartMath techniques, Chris began getting along with his family, colleagues and staff better than he could ever remember and he felt much more clearheaded and in command of his life.
Benefits of Reducing Blood Pressure and Stress
Lower risk of heart attack, heart failure, stroke, kidney disease and complications to other health problems.
You will not fatigue as quickly or often and you’ll have more energy to do things, including physical activities.
Less irritability and anger, think more clearly.
Get along better with family, friends and coworkers, feel connected.
Revitalize your body, mind and spirit, feel happier.
Recommended
A HeartMath TIP: Use the Quick Coherence Technique®, a rapid three-step tool, that will help you start new heart and emotional coherence patterns so all of your body’s functions synchronize and you are able to respond to stressful situations more intelligently and ultimately reduce the stress that’s raising your blood pressure.
Whenever you feel your stress buttons being pushed, try the following:
Heart focus: Shift your attention to the area of the heart and breathe slowly and deeply.
Heart breathing: Keep your focus in the heart by gently breathing – five seconds in and five seconds out – through your heart. Do this two or three times.
Heart feeling: Activate and sustain a genuine feeling of appreciation or care for someone or something in your life. Focus on the good heart feeling as you continue to breathe through the area of your heart.
Recommended
Tools for Reducing Stress
Learn how to reduce stress in people with high blood pressure.
emWave® PC / emWave® Mac Stress Relief System:†
Consists of software and a sensor that are used with your personal computer to show changes in your heart rhythms and coherence level in real time on your monitor, along with games you can play to increase your heart coherence. † Formerly known as Freeze-Framer®.
Heart Lock-In Technique®: Learn the steps of one of the most powerful HeartMath methods for helping you reduce stress in the powerful book The HeartMath Solution, Childre, Martin, 1999. You’ll use this technique daily to help sustain normal heart-rhythm patterns, or heart coherence.
(Note: Use the emWave PSR, emWave PC Stress Relief System or
emWave Mac to help regulate your emotions in preparation for events you know may trigger your stress response and to help you recover from stressful episodes and get back on an even keel fast.)
Learn more…
What you and your doctor need to know about high blood pressure: Read what cardiologist Bruce Wilson, MD, co-author of The HeartMath Approach to Managing Hypertension, has to say about stress and high blood pressure, especially for people who have had a cardiac event.
