Isworo, A., Anam, A., Indrawati, N. · Gaster Jurnal Kesehatan · 2019
EFT therapy (20 minutes daily for a week) produced a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure in the intervention group (p<0.001) and a significant between-group difference in systolic BP reduction (p=0.014) versus control, though diastolic BP changes were not significant within or between groups.
Blood pressure is about as concrete and clinically consequential a measurement as exists in medicine — a replicated drop in systolic BP from a free, self-administered practice would be a finding cardiologists and public health officials couldn't easily wave away, especially for older adults managing hypertension on fixed incomes.
If this blood-pressure effect replicates in bigger trials, picture an elderly person managing hypertension self-administering a free 20-minutes-a-day practice alongside their medication routine, no clinic visit required for the tapping itself, with the potential for extra help controlling blood pressure. That could matter for older adults managing multiple health costs on a fixed income.
If a week of daily tapping really moves systolic blood pressure this much, the obvious next step is a longer trial using ambulatory 24-hour BP monitoring rather than clinic readings, plus HRV, to see whether the effect reflects genuine autonomic recalibration and whether it holds over months rather than one week. Worth also testing EFT as an add-on to standard antihypertensive medication in a larger elderly sample, tracking whether the BP effect allows any physician-supervised dose reduction over time.
| Design | Controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Participants | 32 people |
| Population | elderly patients with hypertension (systolic 140-160 mmHg, diastolic 90-100 mmHg), divided into intervention and control groups of 16 each |
| Comparison group | control group (no EFT therapy) |
| Outcome measures | systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure (mercury sphygmomanometer) |
| Journal | Gaster Jurnal Kesehatan |
| Year | 2019 |
| Country | Indonesia |
| Language | English |
| Method | EFT / tapping |
| Publication type | Study / trial |
| Verification | ✓ Confirmed against the primary source |
Isworo, A., Anam, A., & Indrawati, N. (2019). Effects of Emotional Freedom Technique therapy on reducing blood pressure in elderly hypertension. Gaster Jurnal Kesehatan. https://doi.org/10.30787/gaster.v17i2.438
This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/tapping. Explore more studies on Other Physical Conditions
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