Hypertension Relief Device

How an accidental discovery by the Air Force turned into a lifesaving breakthrough.

The discovery of how this isometric therapy can reduce blood pressure was completely accidental. When the U.S. Air Force began deploying the F-16 fighter jet in the late 1960s, the difficult maneuverability of this aircraft led many fighter pilots to experience incidents of "G-force blackout", a condition that causes temporary vision loss.

The U.S. Air Force commissioned Dr. Ronald L. Wiley, a cardiopulmonary physiologist, to be part of a study to help increase G-tolerance. The study used extreme isometric handgrip efforts that rapidly elevated blood pressure immediately prior to imposing high G-loads on the test pilots.

What happened next was simply scientific serendipity. Dr. Wiley discovered that over the 10 to 12 week test periods, not only was G-force tolerance increased, some test subjects with slightly elevated blood pressure experienced a lowering of blood pressure.

He realized he had stumbled across an exciting new therapy for treating hypertension!

Over the next two decades, Dr. Wiley dedicated himself to researching isometric therapy protocols in various university laboratories to develop the ideal therapy to safely and effectively lower blood pressure. He then tested this therapy in numerous controlled studies conducted by physicians in private practice and in cardiac rehabilitation centers, and found it produced dramatic results in just weeks.

Research has identified four ways that this exercise device reduces blood pressure:

1. Provides Easy Cardiovascular Exercise — restricts blood flow to the heart by constricting blood vessels in your forearm. This in turn causes your heart to work harder, just as in other forms of exercise.
2. Boosts Nitric Oxide — increases the production of nitric oxide (a vasodilator), which the helps relax the blood vessels, thus increasing the amount those arteries and veins can stretch. This also aids in lowering blood pressure.
3. Increases Resistance to Stress (Vagal tone) — a marker of stress vulnerability. Makes your nervous system work more effectively so you become more resistant to stress. Like doing 3 hours of Yoga in 12 minutes.
4. Reverses Endothelial Dysfunction, a condition in which the cells that line your blood vessels become compromised. This condition is a major precursor to heart attacks, diabetes, strokes, and hardening of the arteries.

The exercise is simple and easy to use. Simply press the "On" button, and the handgrip display guides you through the 12-minute exercise session.

1. First, you squeeze as hard as you can for 5 seconds with your right hand, then with your left, each followed by 10 seconds of rest. These pressures are recorded as your Maximum Voluntary Contractions (MVC). The microprocessor calculates 30% of your MVCs; this has been determined to be the exertion level that delivers the best results and is the pressure you apply for the 2-minute exercise sessions.
2. After a 30-second rest period, you are directed through four 2-minute sessions, two with each hand, separated by 1-minute rest periods. You will squeeze just enough to display "Hold" in the window. If you squeeze too much or too little, you hear a tone and the display tells you to squeeze less or more. This is how the Handgrip regulates your exertion at the optimum level.
3. When the exercise routine is complete, the handgrip displays a score based on how well you maintained the prescribed pressure.