a cuff on their arm
attached to a small
device that recorded
their blood pressure.
Participants had three
blood pressure readings
taken during three clinic
visits, and finished with
one 24-hour ambulatory
blood pressure
recording, where
readings are taken every
30 minutes. None of the
participants – more than
half of them women,
aged 45 on average, were
taking blood pressure
medication to lower their numbers.
The study revealed that 15.7 per
cent of participants with normal
clinic blood pressure had masked
hypertension, and younger, normal
weight participants had higher
ambulatory blood pressure readings
than older, overweight participants.
“These findings debunk the
widely held belief that ambulatory
blood pressure is usually lower
than clinic blood pressure,”
said lead investigator Dr Joseph
Schwartz. “It is important for
health-care providers to know that
there is a systematic tendency for
ambulatory blood pressure to exceed
clinic blood pressure in healthy,
untreated individuals evaluated forhypertension during
well-patient visits.”
Masked hypertension
can be difficult to
catch, and it’s not
completely clear what
causes the condition,
butitisknowntobe
more common in men,
tobacco users, those who
drink alcohol excessively
and people with
diabetes. It may also
be stress-induced, and
because people have so
much stress at work, or
even at home, they find
a bit of solace in their doctor’s office,
causing them to chill out and provide
false blood pressure results.
High blood pressure can contribute
to stroke, heart failure, vision loss and
kidney failure, heightening concerns
over the condition.
Dr Gerald Fletcher, a spokesman for
the American Heart Association, isn’t
surprised by the findings. “It’s a major
problem in our population,” he told
Reader’s Digest. “People aren’t doing
enough to keep their numbers low.”
And it’s simply not possible to monitor
everyone around the clock. Fletcher
suggested starting with preventative
measures such as reducing sodium
intake, exercising more and getting
regular medical checks.Around-the-
clock monitoring
revealed
undetected high
blood pressure
among
otherwise
healthy adultsPHOTO: iSTOCK
March• 2018 | 19