Customer Reviews

Zona Plus - Natural and Effective Cardiovascular Health

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I discovered that I have high BP late last year. I purchased the Zona Plus and began regular use on January 7. I was diligent about using the Zona Plus at least 5 times per week as recommended. I also checked my BP at least three times a day and charted it. The Zona literature states that you will see results in 4 to 6 weeks and maximum results after 8 weeks. I am writing this review on March 7, just over 8 weeks after starting. I am sorry to say, that I haven't seen any change in my blood pressure. In fact, if anything it is trending upward during the last week. This is very disappointing as I had high hopes for this device. The manufacturer states that 10% of people won't see any benefit. Since I am already out the $$$, I will continue to use this device in the off chance that I might be an outlier and need a longer period to see any benefit. If I see any improvement I will amend my review. Until then, be skeptical.

From my experience using Zona Plus for over a year, this is an amazingly effective product for the treatment of high blood pressure. When I started with the product I was generally 135/90. After a few months I was 118/77. I was so impressed that I bought one for my brother. (We would have just shared the same Zona, but we do not live nearby.) Now, he is also lowering his blood pressure. I am a Ph.D.--the mystery is that more M.D.s are not promoting the Zona Plus. I strongly recommend this great product!

I bought the product and when I had a few questions it took 5 tries to get an answer. Then it stopped working after a month. I contacted Zona and they told me to return it and after "fixing" it it was worse. I emailed them again and this time they simply didn't respond so I returned it again and once more they sent it back to me operating even worse then before. I emailed them asking for a refund or since I had a lemon for a new replacement model. They never replied. How well the product works I have no idea since it lasted about as long as a $4.99 hair dryer from a discount drug store. Overall what I can attest to is their customer support is terrible and their quality control worse.

I will acknowledge up front that I have not purchased nor used this product. I am curious about it. However, I am responding to the prior reviewer who states that ït is a "mystery that more MD's are not promoting the Zona Plus"."I may be able to help clarify that mystery at least for this MD.

COST is not Feasible

The easiest issue to explain is price. A very large number of my patients would not be able to even consider testing this with a price tag so high, Most insurance companies are unlikey to reimburse it. FDA clearance is a not a meaningful term, so it would fall under "experimental" and "uncovered". Given that a very wide range of the most commonly used blood pressure medications are now available generic for about four greenbills a month (and about ten dollars per 3 months) as pioneered by Walmart but now similarly duplicated by several discount pharmacies, including ones locally to most towns -- even a person on 2-3 medications would needs years to pay off this device.


SAFETY FIRST

However, the greater issues for me regard safety and mechanism of action. I started as a PhD. During this time cardiovascular regulation including blood pressure was the dominant theme of my research, publications and literature reading with an emphasis on individual variations in reactions to and recovery from different stress states -- including isometric handgrip versus aerobic exercise. Since completing medical school, I have worked with the clinical challenge of regulating blood pressure on nearly a daily basis. I am not a fan of any one particular medication or method --I find that patients are individuals and they require individually designed treatment programs, some of which have to be pretty flexible and/or creative. While there are people who are very responsive to a low dose of only one medication, others are a challenge on multiple medications. A few have required a "sliding scale" based on their blood pressure being measured daily or more often.

Hwever, there is a particular reason I am not excited about this device which comes from my research experiences before medical school. But first, I want to clarify that I am not automatically biased against all "devices" or nonpharmacologic techiques when one continues to closely monitor the results of therapy. Thus I need to digress briefly.

I have a healthy respect for meditation and for some applicatons of "biofeedback" which help recruit mind and body to work together rather than in opposition. Consistent with this view, I have attempted a few trials of other devices such as the RESPeRATE by loaning the device out for free to patients who really did not want to add another medicine yet. Given the cost of RESPeRate, not covered by insurance, the loaner model could help determine whether they wanted to invest their money. Frankly, the results were mixed. In some it seemed effective and they wanted to buy their own; in others not. That's not too surprising for the same reason that no one drug is ideal for everyone. For the RESPeRATE one potential factor that predicted lack of success seemed to be the presence of diabetes associated with autonomic neuropathy, or disregulation of the branch of the "automatic nervous system" that controls blood pressure, heart rate and other things over which we don't easily exert voluntary control. These persons can have very large swings in blood pressure when changing from supine to seated or standing positions. In the few people I tried with this problem, the RESPeRATE was quite frustrating. Some reported not "feeling good or right" while trying it, and it just didn't seem to work. I don't know if longer use than 1-2 weeks would have been helpful, but these people would not likely have been willing to continue. I would expect the Zona Plus to be even more problematic for them.


ISOMETRIC EXERCISE CAN SIGNIFICANTLY RAISE BLOOD PRESSURE

Here is why. Maximal handgrip exercise (meaning gripping as hard as you can and holding), was the most commonly researched form of isometric exercise for which a large body of literature exists dating back several decades. It was one of the most profound stimuli for raising blood pressure. It beat submerging one's hand in ice water and it beat maximal aerobic exercise (such as treadmill or bicycling studies). In hypertensive persons this effect was reported to produce extraordinarily elevated pressures that I've never seen in clinical settings.

I reviewed this literature in detail as part of the preparation of my doctoral dissertation in the 1980s and intermittently again throughout the 1990s when preparing grant proposals and publications. Thus I learned that many decades ago prior to the required use of committees which scrutinize the safety of experiments performed in humans, there were old studies of maximal isometric handgrip exercise (durations up to 1 minute or less) with blood pressure measured DURING and/or IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS. These were done in "normal" volunteers and in those with hypertension. Even in "normals" this form of exercise produced significantly higher blood pressures than aerobic exercise. In persons with hypertension it was reported to produce staggeringly high blood pressures well over 200 systolically; in some cases higher than I've ever seen. Thus in subsequent years researchers more often used "submaximal" handgrip exercise such as at 25-33%, up to 3-5 minutes, but still relatively limited durations. Watching these submaximal responses in young, normally health persons convinced me that I did not particularly want to encourage it when I later began working with patients who had uncontrolled hypertension.

The reviewers who describe positive results here mostly seem to be measuring their blood pressure at a later time in the day. I notice one review who reported a rise in blood pressure after using the device. Perhaps it goes down then for some, but hard to say what other things were going on. While this is still useful information, it does not reveal what was happening to blood pressures while they were actually performing the exercise or immediately afterwards.

I understand the basic principle that perhaps a challenge (such as in aerobic exercise) stimulates the body to adapt in a beneficial way in order to tolerate it better the next time. With aerobic exercise implemented in a sensible, cautious and if need be in a supervised setting -- these adapation have frequently been seen to improve collateral blood flow in the legs and heart. Furthermore the normal mechanism of response to aerobic exercise is increased cardiac rate and contraction strength while decreasing resistance to flow in the skeletal muscles -- overall improving blood circulation. The mechanisms for isometric exercise were different and often involved an overall constriction or tightening of the blood vessels walls while still ramping up cardiac stimulation. So it is much less clear to me that isometric exercise is similarly beneficial. the product literature explains a 1-2 second test run then a set structured grips of 2 minutes each -- % of maximal grip not disclosed. Even 33% for 3 minutes was pretty demanding in our lab, frequently resulting in the arm shaking, Thus, unfortunately I am concerned that for some people such isometric exercise might carry safety risks that are difficult to predict and to regulate -- particularly for the people this device targets -- those with uncontrolled hypertension.

In part, these risks might depend on whether the person has the anatomical, physiological and biochemical resources to support adaptation or not. It seems reasonable to be somewhat skeptical that the group of people who are already hypertensive is going to be sufficiently adaptable, given known mechanisms by which persistent hypertension can result in thicker and stiffer blood vessel walls. In contast, aerobic exercise can be introduced gently with warmups and very gradual acceleration or lengthened duration. Isometric exercise even if brief, however, potentially could result in high velocity challenge to both the heart and blood vessels that exceeds the rate of their ability to adapt (including to the cerebral circulation).

Hence, I would be concerned that in certain people this device could produce undesired elevations in BP, at least while actively performing the exercise. This problem might be even more enhanced if they are tempted to push the limits of this type of exercise, i.e. holding on longer or harder believing that doing so somehow proves they are stronger. I would also worry about its use by people who may have an aneurysm or weakness in the wall of a blood vessel.


"NATURALNESS" IS DEBATABLE

The product information above doesn't give enough details for me to alleviate these concerns. The claim that it lowers blood pressure "naturally" seems even harder to substantiate. What is natural about gripping something so tightly in your hand that your whole arm shakes?

The item was shipped promptly, and received in good order. I tried using it, but I have some arthritis in my hands, and it made them very sore. I called the company to see about returning the item, and they were very understanding about it. They said to return it, and they would issue a credit to my card. No hassle, very helpful, a pleasure to deal with.

I just purchased this device, and I will let it stand on the research merits as to its efficacy in lowering blood pressure values. Notwithstanding that effectiveness with daily use, I question why it is priced so terribly high. I had expected some sophisticated software running on the device, but it's not there. It won't even track your daily progress numbers, but that may be because that number isn't all that important. Basically, it just seems to measure if you hold tightly in your target grip strength zone for two minutes with each hand, twice, with sixty second rest periods in between. If you are not gripping tight enough, the monitor reads to grip "more" and if too much, grip "less." I posed my question to the company, and I got this in response from Micah Wood, Zona Health Sales manager: "To be very straightforward, we charge what we do because the free market supports our pricing." In my opinion, you pay at least twice as much as you should for this thing (our federal Anthem insurance didn't cover a cent). One hopes that its price will soon come down to a more affordable amount.

We have only had this item for a few weeks, so it's too soon to know if it's really going to help with blood pressure problems. However, we're somewhat disappointed with its quality. The movement of the grip is somewhat "sticky", making it difficult to use. If the unit is not held just right, the force with which the handle is being squeezed may register low or not at all.

We want to try this product and like the product's 60 days warranty. I thought Amazon also provide good return service.

Just learned this today: once you open the box, you can not return, not even within one day. This defeats the whole purpose. Buy from Zona directly, though it is a few dollars more. Also Factory Direct Store's custom service is not as friendly and professional as Zona's.

As far as the product, we are using it for three days. It seems to be a good product. I am stuck to it anyway.

Updated on 3/24/2010

After three weeks of using, my wife's blood pressure seems to be back to normal. I also started to use it daily. Hopefully, mine will be normal, too. I am considering buying another one for my folks directly from Zona.

I am pre-hypertensive, and had run across the Zona device several times in various articles, but was skeptical. Finally, I saw a very detailed article in an aviation magazine for pilots, and decided to try it.

With no change in my work-out routine, diet, etc., but after a few weeks of using the Zona Plus, my typical blood pressure dropped from around 135/90 to around 122/82. The company reports a range of results, which undoubtedly will vary person to person due to one's health, condition, and how well they use it. I don't think it will take one from 150/100 down to perfectly normal pressure (usually stated as 120/80), but it should help, whether to manage pre-hypertension or to complement meds for worse hypertension.

Pluses:
>It works! How well will vary person to person, but any reduction in blood pressure is very much to the good.
>It's a lot cheaper than taking blood pressure meds, if using it avoids the meds.
>It's easy to use. It will seem strange the first time you use it, almost there the second time, and then easy.

Minuses:
>It's not cheap, but again, still much cheaper than blood pressure meds.
>You need to use it continuously daily or nearly so, your blood pressure will rise again if you stop for a while. I use it daily, but it's okay to miss a day here and there, and some folks apparently use it only every-other day, presumably still with okay results.
>It takes about 15-minutes per day, which is really not bad but annoying when you are fried at the end of the day and want to turn in right now but remember that you still need to use it today.
>The display could be more intuitive to use. However, after using it a few times, it's easy enough.
>The design of the battery case is adequate but requires some care to close up properly.


Overall: A very unique and reasonably effective device for hypertension (high blood pressure). If reducing your BP by around 10-15 points or so works for you, it should definitely be considered, but also don't ignore weight loss, exercise, and reducing intake of salt (sodium), which affect general health as well as blood pressure!

I have been using Zona Plus for a couple of years now. I first learned of it in the Harvard Heart Letter.

I was born in 1942...due the math. My blood pressure was running around 145/188. Now it is like 118/74!

The best part is no drugs. I have made a habit out of using it around 20:00 when watching TV. Once it is a habit, you can not not do it. When I travel I take the charger and a back-up battery. If I lost it I would RUSH order a new one immediately. It works...not by messing up your chemical balance and attacking some vital organs but by strengthening your cardio-vascular system, but personally, and a couple of doctors that I discussed this with agree, by synchronizing you parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems.

No matter how it works...it works. I truly love it!