Learned control of blood pressure in patients with high blood pressure.

Five patients with documented histories of essential hypertension of at least ten years' duration participated in a triphasic study of training to control systolic blood pressure (SBP). Phase 1 was a seven week period during which patients took their BP (systolic and diastolic) at home and mailed these data to us daily. Phase 2 was a three week period during which patients were taught to control SBP using a noninvasive technique: patients were trained to raise, to lower and to alternately lower and raise SBP. Phase 3 was a three month period during which patients again took their BP at home and mailed these data to us daily.