Study shows walking in nature helps control BP: Experts

Staying close to nature helps correct uncontrolled blood pressure, in case medicines are not working up to expectation, said experts at the ASSOPICON-2023, the three-day national conference of physiologists that began on Friday.

“A study on people with uncontrolled blood pressure has found that nature is a big help. When people with who could not control blood pressure with medicine were asked to regularly watch videos showing natural beauty for about three months along with proper medication the results were positive. Some of the patients actually developed a habit of visiting parks and riverside,” said Dr Nitin Ashok, from the AIIMS Hyderabad.

“Blood pressure is becoming a big issue due to stress in professional and personal life, irregular eating habits. A lot of patients we advise a change in lifestyle and their blood pressure is brought under control,” said Dr NS Verma, HoD physiology at KGMU and organising chairperson of the conference.

As part of the conference the department of respiratory medicine at KGMU organised a workshop on ‘pulmonary function test’. Head of the department Dr Surya Kant, along with other faculty members Dr Santosh Kumar, Dr Ajay Kumar Verma, Dr Darshan Kumar Bajaj and Dr Jyoti Bajpai shared knowledge on the basics of spirometry, the flow volume curves, the interpretation and the vitality of PFT in diagnosis of chronic respiratory disorders.

“Around 65% of patients with underlying disease would be left undiagnosed without PFT. It is a must to do test in the strata of patients with a history of tobacco consumption,” said Dr Ajai Kumar Verma.

“This was followed by a live demonstration of PFT on patients,” said Dr Bajaj.