ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effects of blood activating wind dissipating acupuncture (BAWDA) on blood pressure (BP) of prehypertension (PHT) patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Totally 60 PHT patients were assigned to the control group and the acupuncture group according to random digit table, 30 in each group. All patients were intervened by life style. BAWDA was additionally performed in patients in the acupuncture group for 6 weeks (30 times). The improvement of BP after intervened by acupuncture was observed. BP success rates and the proportion of PHT progressing to hypertension (HT) were also observed after 6-week intervention of acupuncture and at 1-year follow-up.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) decreased after 6-week intervention in the acupuncture. The BP control rate was 56.7% (17/30 cases) in the acupuncture group vs.10.0% (3/30 cases) in the control group with statistical difference (chi2 = 14.70, P < 0.01). At 1-year follow-up BP success rate was 36.7% (11/30 cases) in the acupuncture group, remarkably higher than that of the control group [13.3%, (4/30 cases)] (chi2 = 4.36, P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>BAWDA showed BP regulating roles in a gradually stable decreasing tendency. It also could elevate BP success rate of PHT, and reduce the risk of PHT progressing to HT.</p>