Key result
Alternate nostril breathing consistently reduces systolic and diastolic blood pressure in hypertensive patients.
Why the study?
Hypertension is a primary cause of cardiovascular disease and high mortality, and alternate nostril breathing exercise is a potential non-pharmacological approach to reduce blood pressure by modifying sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve function.
Does alternate nostril breathing exercise reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure in patients with hypertension?
Systematic Review (n=443)
Does alternate nostril breathing exercise reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure in patients with hypertension?
This systematic literature review suggests that alternate nostril breathing exercise is a safe, low-cost, non-pharmacological adjunct therapy that can help reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure in hypertensive patients.
May support alternate nostril breathing as adjunctive hypertension therapy; extends limited evidence but requires rigorous RCTs before practice change.
Hypertension remains a major health problem in Indonesia. Hypertension is also known as the primary cause of cardiovascular disease, which contributes to a high mortality rate. One of the non-pharmacological approaches to managing hypertension is the alternate nostril breathing exercise to reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure by modifying the rise and fall of sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve function. The purpose of this literature review is to determine the effect of alternate nostril breathing exercises on reducing blood pressure in hypertensive patients. The literature review method used three databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect) and was analyzed using the PICOT strategy. The journals used had a quasi-experimental, pre-experimental, and randomized controlled trial design published between 2019-2024. Based on the 5 journals that have been reviewed, it was found that alternate nostril breathing exercise affects reducing blood pressure in hypertensive patients, both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Therefore, alternate nostril breathing exercises can be applied as a non-pharmacological therapy for hypertensive patients.
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Novitasari et al. (2026) conducted a systematic review in Hypertension (n=443). Alternate nostril breathing exercise (ANBE) vs. Routine treatment, silent sitting, or pre-intervention baseline was evaluated on Change in systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p=<0.05). Alternate nostril breathing exercises significantly reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure across all 5 reviewed studies (p < 0.05) in patients with hypertension.
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