Zona Plus is the name of a small hand held, battery-operated personal therapeutic medical device used to lower blood pressure. Sold over the counter (OTC) as a natural method to lower blood pressure, its clinical version (the CardioGrip, 1998) is a non-drug, non-invasive hypertension treatment device cleared by the FDA.[1]

History edit

In the late 1960’s, the U.S. Air Force commissioned Dr. Ronald L. Wiley, a cardiopulmonary physiologist, to be part of a study to help increase G-tolerance in F-16 pilots. The study used extreme isometric handgrip efforts that rapidly elevated blood pressure immediately prior to imposing high G-loads on the test pilots.

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. [2]

Indications edit

There are two major measurable effects upon the body caused by Zona Plus therapy. One is improvement in endothelial dysfunction,[3] a systemic dilation of blood vessels (possibly related to an increased production of Nitric Oxide), and the other is improved vagal function, a massive switch in nervous system function including a decrease in sympathetic activity and a prevalence of parasympathetic activity.[4]

The two fold approach of combining a physiological change with an autonomic nervous system change produces additional benefits in lowered blood pressure for many people, compared with a simple biofeedback device.[5] [6]The relatively small body of research concerning Zona Plus (a.k.a. CardioGrip and isometric handgrip training) is comprised of ten articles published in peer-reviewed journals. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] It was also reviewed by the Harvard Health Letter.[18]

The clinical model of the Zona Plus, known as the CardioGrip, was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in June of 1998.[19]

Physical properties of the Zona Plus edit

The device uses a form of handgrip dynamometer to measure the strength of each hand separately, at the beginning of each use, and stores that measurement in device memory. Then, using the measured hand strength, the user is guided through a short isometric hand therapy routine. The device includes a sensor for measuring strength and monitoring performance, a screen for displaying feedback to the user, a microprocessor based control system for managing the therapy and guiding the user to meeting goals, a speaker for giving feedback to the user, and a battery to make the units portable allowing a greater range of use.

Legal status edit

The Zona Plus is the main product manufactured by CardioGrip Corporation, an American corporation with headquarters in Idaho.[20] It was originally patented by M.D. Systems. Zona Plus is a trademark owned by Zona Health.

References edit

  1. ^ http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfRL/rl.cfm?start_search=1&regnum=77738
  2. ^ http://www.patientedu.org/aspx/HealthELibrary/HealthETopic.aspx?cid=H1206d
  3. ^ The American Physiological Society. The APS Intersociety Meeting, The American Physiological Society. http://www.the-aps.org/press/conference/ibe/4.htm. Retrieved on 2008-09-05.
  4. ^ Cheri L. McGowan, Andrew S. Levy, Philip J. Millar, Juan C. Guzman, Carlos A.Morillo, Neil McCartney and Maureen J. MacDonald Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 291:1797-1802, 2006. First published Apr 28, 2006; http://ajpheart.physiology.org/cgi/reprint/291/4/H1797?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=isometric+handgrip&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT doi:10.1152/ajpheart.01113.2005
  5. ^ Taylor, A.C., McCartney, N., Kamath, M.V., & Wiley, R. (2003). Isometric training lowers resting blood pressure and modulates autonomic control.Med Sci Sports Exerc, 35(2), 251-256
  6. ^ Wiley, R.L., Dunn, C.L., Cox, R.H., Hueppchen, N.A., &Scott, M.S. (1992). Isometric exercise training lowers resting blood pressure. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 24(7), 749-754
  7. ^ Howden, J.T. Lightfoot, S.J. Brown adn I.L. Swaine. The effects of isometric exercise training on resting blood pressure and orthostatic tolerance in humans. Exp Physiol. 2002 Jul;87(4):507-13 http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=onlineaid=110045
  8. ^ McGowan, C.L.M., Visocchi, A., Faulkner, M., Rakobowchuk, M., McCartney, N., &MacDonald, M.J. (2004b). Isometric handgrip training improves endothelial function in persons medicated for hypertension (Abstract). The APS Intersociety Meeting: Integrative Meeting- Abstracts of Invited and Contributed Presentation, http:www.the-aps.org/publications/tphys/2004html/AugTPhys/IBEabstracts.pdf, Pg. 15, 6.3
  9. ^ Visocchi, A., McGowan, C.L., Faulkner, M., Verdun, R., McCartney, N., & MacDonald, J. (2004) The effect of isometric arm or leg exercise on resting blood pressure and arterial distensibility in persons medicated for hypertension (abstract). The APS Intersociety Meeting: Integrative Meeting- Abstracts of Invited and Contributed Presentation, http:www.the-aps.org/publications/tphys/2004html/AugTPhys/IBEabstracts.pdf, Pg. 8, 4.14
  10. ^ McGowan CL, Visocchi A, Faulkner M, Verduyn R, Rakobowchuk M, Levy AS, McCartney N, MacDonald MJ. Isometric handgrip training improves local flow-mediated dilation in medicated hypertensives. Eur J Appl Phsiol. 2007 Feb; 99(3): 227-34. Epub 2006 Nov 15. http:///www.springerlink.com/content/5150u4782r483306/.
  11. ^ McGowan CL, Levy AS, Miller PJ, Guzman JC, Morillo CA, McCartney N, MacDonald MJ. Acute vascular responses to isometric handgrip exercise and effects of training in persons medicated for hypertension. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 291: H1797-H1802, 2006. http://ajpheart.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/291/4/H1797.
  12. ^ Peters PG, Alessio HM, Hagerman AE, Ashton T, Nagy S, Wiley RL. Short-term isometric exercise reduces systolic blood pressure in hypertensive adults: possible role of reactive oxygen species. Int J Cardiol. 2006 Jun 16;110(2):199-205. Epub 2005 Oct 18. http://www.internationaljournalofcardiology.com/article/S0167-5273(05)01077-6/abstract
  13. ^ Ray, C. & Carrasco, D. (200). Isometric handgrip training reduces arterial training lowers resting blood pressure and modulates autonomic control. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 35(2), 251-256
  14. ^ Taylor, A.C., McCartney, N., Kamath, M.V., & Wiley, R. (2003). Isometric training lowers resting blood pressure and modulates autonomic control. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 35(2), 251-256.
  15. ^ Wiley, R.L., Dunn, C.L., Cos, R.H., hueppchen, N.A., & Scott, M.s> (1992). Isometric exercise training lowers blood pressure. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 24(7), 749-754.
  16. ^ Howden, R., Lightfoot, R.T., Brown, S.J., and Swaine, I.L. The effects of isometric exercise training on resting blood pressure and orthostatic tolerance in humans. Exp Physiol. 2002 Jul;87(4):507-45.
  17. ^ Millar, P. Bray, S., McGowan, C., MacDonald, M., McCartney, N. (2007). Effects of isometric handgrip training among people medicated for hypertension: a multilevel analysis. Analytical methods and statistical analysis, Blood Pressure Monitoring 2007, 12:307-314.
  18. ^ http://www.patientedu.org/aspx/HealthELibrary/HealthETopic.aspx?cid=H1206d
  19. ^ http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfRL/rl.cfm?start_search=1&regnum=77738
  20. ^ http://www.accessidaho.org/public/sos/corp/search.html?ScriptForm.startstep=viewentity&ScriptForm.startScriptForm.start.ScriptStepView.viewentityFILEvalue=C153800