Harvard Medical School Guide to Lowering Your Blood Pressure

By Aggie Casey, R.N., M.S.
and Herbert Benson, M.D.

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High blood pressure, or hypertension, has been called the biggest threat to health in the United States.  Nearly half of all adults have blood pressure that is too high.  Sometimes, the only way to achieve a healthy blood pressure is to take medicines.  However, the latest national expert guidelines emphasize that nutrition, exercise, stress management and mind-body techniques also have considerable value.  This book tells you about how you can use these more natural approaches to lower your blood pressure. 

The authors are experts. Aggie Casey is director of the Cardiac Wellness Program at the Mind/Body Medical Institute. Dr. Herbert Benson is well-known as the author of the groundbreaking and hugely bestselling book, The Relaxation Response, which had an enormous influence on how we see stress as an important factor in our health, particularly heart health.  In The Harvard Medical School Guide to Lowering Your Blood Pressure (McGraw-Hill;February 2006; Original Paperback: $14.95), Ms. Casey and Dr. Benson outline the successful approach program that they use at Dr. Benson’s well-regarded Mind-Body Medical Institute in Boston. Included are:

• The Relaxation Response: Diaphragmatic Breathing, Meditation, Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Guided Imagery
• Forty-One Strategies for Self Care
• Ten Tips to Reduce the Salt in Your Diet
• Simple Ways to Boost Your Fiber Intake
• The Gift of Exercise and Ways to Burn 150 Calories
• When is Medication Necessary?
• Four steps to better manage stress
• Heart-Healthy Recipes

The Harvard Medical School Guide to Lowering Your Blood Pressure is about adopting a lifestyle modification program aimed at lowering your blood pressure.  The book explains what blood pressure is, and how high blood pressure can harm your health.  It tells you about the different types of high blood pressure. Most of all, it tells you how to use lifestyle change and stress management techniques—sometimes without needing any medicine—to lower your blood pressure.