Abstract
Objectives: Afferent nerve stimulation, such as acupuncture and transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS), has shown a blood pressure reduction in both animal and man. In the present open and non-controlled study we investigated the effect on 24-h ambulatory blood pressure of low frequency TENS in a group of hypertensive subjects who do not respond properly to pharmacological treatment.
Method: Twelve patients were investigated. The patients were treated with TENS at two acupoints on both forearms for 30 min twice daily during 4 weeks. 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was recorded 1 week before, at start, at the end and finally 1 week after the TENS treatment.
Results: The blood pressure did not change significantly during the run-in period. After 4 weeks of TENS, the mean systolic blood pressure decreased by 6.3 mm Hg (P < 0.05) and the mean diastolic blood pressure decreased by 3.7 mm hg (P < 0.05). the blood pressure reduction remained unchanged 1 week after treatment. there was no change in mean heart rate.
Conclusion: The present study suggests that continuous TENS may have additional blood pressure-lowering properties in hypertensive patients who do not respond properly to pharmacological treatment. The effect of TENS may also have a prolonged effect.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jacobsson, F., Himmelmann, A., Bergbrant, A. et al. The effect of transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation in patients with therapy-resistant hypertension. J Hum Hypertens 14, 795–798 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1001112
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1001112
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation for high-normal blood pressure: study protocol for a randomized controlled pilot trial
Trials (2021)
-
Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation for stage 1 hypertension: protocol for a randomized controlled pilot trial
Trials (2020)
-
Attenuation of hypertension by C-fiber stimulation of the human median nerve and the concept-based novel device
Scientific Reports (2018)
-
Effect of electroacupuncture stimulation on expression of angiotensinogen, angiotensin II type 1 receptor, endothelin-1, and endothelin a receptor mRNA in spontaneously hypertensive rat aorta
Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine (2016)