Hypertension increases the risk of heart disease and stroke and can damage eyes and kidneys. Resperate is intended to be used along with other hypertension treatments, such as diet, exercise and drugs. The manufacturer also is testing Resperate for other chronic conditions, including congestive heart failure and asthma. At rest, a person normally takes 15 to 25 breaths per minute. Resperate helps lower the rate to fewer than 10 breaths per minute.
Slow breathing relaxes blood vessels and blood pressure is reduced.
Like aerobic exercise, the effect lasts after the exercise is over, the manufacturer said. Resperate regulates breathing by, for example, sounding lower tones when the patient is supposed to inhale and higher tones when the patient is to exhale. Rush Patient Rita Mansfield-Green said Resperate sounds like slow New Age music. Three studies in Israel found that Resperate typically reduced the systolic blood pressure number by 12 and the diastolic by 8. But because of their small sample sizes, the studies may not be conclusive.