Blood pressure: nocturnal values particularly tell-tale
All content is checked by medical journalists.MunichA 24-hour blood pressure measurement is far more meaningful than a point measurement. The values measured at night in particular provide information about the true cardiovascular risk.
Important measurement during sleep
This was the result of the analysis of the data from almost 14,000 people with high blood pressure, including from Europe, Japan and Brazil. George Rush's international team of researchers found that the risk of heart attack or stroke increases by 10 mmHg with every nightly increase in systolic blood pressure - by 25 percent in the following year. If the same increase was measured during the day, the risk was only 20 percent higher. The study authors do not answer why this is so. However, it is conceivable that natural blood pressure peaks during the day, such as those triggered by physical exertion or emotional situations, distort the result.
Measurements made in the hospital had the least informative value. This phenomenon is well known - the doctor's blood pressure measurement makes many patients so nervous that their blood pressure rises (white coat syndrome). And that distorts the result.
Annoying but important
With a 24-hour blood pressure measurement, the blood pressure is determined at regular intervals of 15 or 30 minutes and stored in a box that the patient carries on the body. This can be extremely annoying at night, as the person being examined wakes up again and again as soon as the cuff of the measuring device on the arm inflates.
The present study shows, however, that the sacrifice of a wakeful night is worthwhile: Only the nocturnal measurements give a good indication of the true extent of the personal danger. (cf)
Source: Prognostic impact of clinic, daytime, and nighttime systolic blood pressure in 9 cohorts of 13,843 patients with hypertension: systematic review and meta-analysis, Journal of the American Society of Hypertension; Volume 8, Issue 4, Supplement, Page e59, April 2014
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