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ABSTRACT
Background:
High Blood pressure is defined as abnormally high arterial blood pressure, a major public health problem. High BP is positively correlated to the risk of coronary and heart disease stroke. Besides stroke, coronary and heart disease, its complications include heart failure, renal impairment, peripheral vascular disease, retinal hemorrhage, and visual impairment. This study aims to find the effect of scalp acupuncture in the vasomotor area on blood pressure and heart rate variability in patients with hypertension. Elevated odds of being hypertensive were found in male subjects, married subjects, eldest age group, and subjects of upper socioeconomic status, illiterate subjects, and retired subjects. Alcohol consumption, tobacco, overweight, obesity, and abdominal obesity were also associated with hypertension. Hypertension is defined as a systolic BP level of ≥140 mmHg and/or diastolic BP level ≥ of 90 mmHg. The grey area declining between 120–139 mmHg systolic BP and 80–89 mmHg diastolic BP is defined as “pre-hypertension”.
Materials and Methods:
A randomized controlled trial will be adopted for this study , and all the subjects were randomly allocated to either a study group or a control group using computerized randomization among 80 patients with hypertension between 35-80 years from patients of Govt. Yoga and Naturopathy medical college and hospital, Arumbakkam, Chennai.
They were selected after satisfying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A study group will receive only one session of acupuncture treatments for 20 minutes a day. In
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contrast, the control group will be in their normal routine for the same duration without acupuncture treatments. Assessments will be done before and after the intervention.
Results:
This study showed a significant reduction in the systolic blood pressure, heart rate, and increased RR interval in analysis within the study group. In contrast, no such significant changes were found in the other parameters of the HRV, diastole blood pressure, and control group within the analysis and comparison between the groups.
Conclusion:
The present study demonstrated that the immediate effect of the practice of scalp acupuncture on the vasomotor area effectively reduces the blood pressure by controlling the actions of basal sympathetic discharge, LV ejection, and RAAS.
