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Effects of Qigong on Blood Pressure, Blood Pressure Determinants and Ventilatory Function in Middle-Aged Patients with Essential Hypertension

Department of Nursing, Mokpo Catholic University, Mokpo 530-742, Republic of Korea

Department of Qi-Medicine, Institute of Biotechnology, and Professional Graduate School of Oriental Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan 570-749, Republic of Korea

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Euy-Soon Choi

College of Nursing, Catholic University, Seoul 137-701, Republic of Korea

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, and

Hun-Taeg Chung

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, Iksan 570-749, Republic of Korea

Correspondence to: Dr. Hun-Taeg Chung, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, Iksan 570-749, Republic of Korea. Tel: (+82) 63-850-6762, Fax: (+82) 63-851-5066.

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https://doi.org/10.1142/S0192415X03001120Cited by:55 (Source: Crossref)

Abstract

This study was designed to measure changes in blood pressure (BP), urinary catecholamines and ventilatory functions of patients with mild essential hypertension after 10 weeks of Qigong (Shuxinpingxuegong). Fifty-eight patients volunteered to participate in this study and were randomly divided into either a Qigong group (n = 29), or a control group (n = 29). Systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly in the Qigong group such that both became significantly lower after 10 weeks in the Qigong than in the control group. Also, there was a significant reduction of norepinephrine, metanephrine and epinephrine compared to baseline values in the Qigong group. The ventilatory functions, forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume per sec, were increased in the Qigong group but not the control. These results suggest that Qigong may stabilize the sympathetic nervous system is effective in modulating levels of urinary catecholamines and BP positively, and in improving ventilatory functions in mildly hypertensive middle-aged patients.

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