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White-Coat Effect is Virtually Eliminated Using a Non-Drug Hypertension Treatment Device

Posted on: Monday, 16 May 2005, 09:00 CDT

The "White Coat" Effect, a condition that affects up to 25% of hypertensive patients, was virtually eliminated by a non-drug hypertension treatment device, named RESPeRATE(R). The "White Coat Effect" refers to the common finding that blood pressures measured in doctors' offices are usually higher than those measured at home or in other settings. Individuals whose blood pressures in the medical office rise greater than or equal to 140/90 mm Hg, but are normal at home, are often called "White Coat Hypertensives." The new finding, released today at the Twentieth Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Hypertension (ASH) stems from analyses of pooled data taken from 6 separate clinical trials, performed with the device.

The analysis, led by Dr. William J. Elliott, from the Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush University Medical Center in Chicago found that 8-weeks of fifteen minutes/day of self-treatment using device-guided slow breathing with the RESPeRATE device resulted in an approximate 80% reduction of the white-coat effect in the treatment group compared to only an approximate 40% reduction in the control group (21/12 mm Hg reduction of office to home blood pressure difference from initial value in treatment group vs. 11/6 mmHg in control; P=0.002/0.02). No side-effects were reported, and these effects were independent of gender and medication status.

"These findings are very encouraging, especially since this condition (white-coat hypertension) does not usually respond to drug treatment, as giving more antihypertensive drugs often makes the person have too low a blood pressure at home," said Dr. Elliott. "The reduction in both office and home blood pressure and the attenuation of the white-coat effect with the RESPeRATE device are both consistent with a reduction of sympathetic activity, which is a proposed mechanism of how paced breathing works."

These new results further validate and extend the clinical situations in which RESPeRATE appears to be particularly useful. A recently published Clinical Overview paper, written by William J. Elliott MD, PhD, Rush University Medical Center, Joseph L. Izzo, Jr, MD, University of Buffalo, and Henry Black, MD, of Rush University Medical Center, summarizes these special situations as: pre-hypertensives and white-coat or labile hypertensives; patients with isolated systolic hypertension; and resistant hypertensive patients.

About InterCure Inc.

InterCure (www.intercure.com) is a medical device company that creates and sells products that harness the therapeutic power of breathing for the treatment of hypertension, heart failure, respiratory diseases and other conditions. With seven successful clinical trials, RESPeRATE(R) (www.resperate.com), InterCure's first product, became the only non-drug medical device indicated by the FDA for the adjunctive treatment of hypertension.

Source: Business Wire

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