Barbershop Study Finds a Little Off the Sides Helps Lower BP

A barbershop cut is helping some men trim their blood pressure, a new study in Los Angeles found.

In research published in the journal "Circulation," a yearlong study by the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center involved 52 black-owned Los Angeles County barbershops that had pharmacists prescribe, monitor, and adjust blood pressure medication for customers.

After 12 months, the average systolic blood pressure – the top number in a blood pressure reading – fell by nearly 29 mmHg in the intervention group and by 7.2 mmHg in the control group.

"Our initial six-month data showed a marked reduction of blood pressure in the intervention group," C. Adair Blyler, study author one of two clinical pharmacists who traveled to black-owned barbershops to treat patients, said in a medical center news release.

"Now, our 12-month data show that this significant reduction in blood pressure can be sustained, and in some cases, even improved, despite fewer in-person visits with a pharmacist."

The study was led by the late Dr. Ronald Victor, who was the first to study, and prove high-risk populations are more likely to be receptive to medical care in an environment where they are most comfortable, the medical center said.

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