b'A D V A N C I N G I N N O V A T I O N S I N H E A L T H C A R E P O L I C Y C A R D I O V A S C U L A R D I S E A S E A N D R I S K F A C T O R SREDUCTIONS INOne hundred and fifty hypertensive African Americans were BLOOD PRESSURErandomly assigned to either Transcendental Meditation (TM), AND USE OFProgressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR), or health education (HE) HYPERTENSIVEgroups and completed twelve-month posttesting. Results MEDICATION indicated a decrease of 5.7 mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure American Journal of(DBP) in the TM group, which was significantly different from Hypertension, 2005, 18,changes found in the other treatment groups. A non-significant 8898 decrease of 3.1 mm Hg in systolic blood pressure (SBP) was observed. Female TM participants exhibited a significant decrease in both DBP and SBP compared to the other treatment groups. Use of hypertensive medication was also found to significantly decrease in the TM group in comparison to the other groups.RESEARCH FIELD SITE: West Oakland Health Center, CANational Institutes of HealthNational Center for National Heart Lung and Blood Institute Grant 1RO1HL48107 and National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Grant 1P50AT00082DECREASEDOne hundred and twenty-seven hypertensive African BLOOD PRESSUREAmericans were randomly assigned to either Transcendental IN HYPERTENSIVEMeditation (TM), Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR), or PATIENTS education control (EC) groups and completed three-month Hypertension, 1995, 26(5),posttesting. Results showed reductions of 10.7 mm Hg in 820-827 (American Heartsystolic blood pressure (SBP) and 6.4 mm Hg in diastolic Association journal) blood pressure (DBP) in the TM group; these reductions in BP were significantly different from changes found in the other treatment groups. The BP reductions in the TM group compare favorably to the effects found with antihypertensive medication. RESEARCH FIELD SITE: West Oakland Health Center, CASupported in Part by National Institutes of Health Research Grant 5RO1HL-4810729'