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.