Why should we measure blood pressure while lying down?
The results of a new study conducted by researchers from Harvard University revealed that people who suffer from high blood pressure while lying on their backs are more at risk of having a heart attack, stroke, heart failure, or premature death.
The results of the study were presented (Thursday) at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions on High Blood Pressure 2023, which will be held from September 7 to 10, 2023, in Boston, United States.
According to the study, the autonomic nervous system regulates blood pressure in different parts of the body. However, sometimes the body is unable to regulate blood pressure properly during lying, sitting, and standing positions.
“If blood pressure is only measured while people are sitting upright, the opportunity to monitor cardiovascular disease risk may be missed if it is not also measured while they are lying down,” said the study’s lead researcher, Duke M. Jiao, of Harvard Medical School in Boston. On their backs.”
Dr. Abdul Rahman Abu Shouk, resident cardiologist at Yale University School of Medicine, commented on the results of the study, saying: “This is an important study because it addresses one of the practical aspects of measuring blood pressure in clinical practices, as it is one of the factors affecting cardiovascular health, and why “It is related to the risk of strokes and heart attacks in the future.”
He added to Asharq Al-Awsat: “Doctors usually measure blood pressure while sitting, and very rarely it is measured for the patient in the sitting or sleeping positions, as the latter is done for the purpose of measuring the level of low blood pressure, not its high.”
He explained: “Some patients suffer from dizziness as soon as they wake up from sleep. Due to the effect of gravity on the blood, which requires examination and treatment.”
He continued: “The results of this study recommend the necessity of measuring blood pressure in both positions, sitting and sleeping, as the latter position avoids the effect of gravity, and thus the measurements are more accurate, which helps the doctor predict the health risks to which the patient may be exposed.”
Doctors usually measure blood pressure only while sitting (Public Domain)
To examine body posture, blood pressure, and heart health risks, researchers examined health data for 11,369 adults, as part of the Longitudinal Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.
Data on supine and sitting blood pressure were collected during the first enrollment period, which occurred between 1987 and 1989. Participants’ blood pressure was also measured while lying down briefly in the clinic.
Participants were followed for an average of 25 to 28 years, until Visit 5, which included health data collected from 2011 to 2013.
Jiao cautioned that the study focused on adults who were middle-aged at the time enrollment began, which means the results may not be generalizable to older populations.
Hypertension was defined in this study as “their upper and lower blood pressure measurements were greater than or equal to 130/80 mm Hg.”
The results showed that compared with participants who did not have high blood pressure while sitting and lying down, participants with high blood pressure while sitting and lying down were 1.6 times more likely to develop coronary heart disease. As well as a 1.83 times higher risk of heart failure, a 1.86 times higher risk of stroke, a 1.43 times higher risk of premature death in general, and a 2.18 times higher risk of death from coronary heart disease.
Participants with high blood pressure while lying down but not while sitting had a similar elevated risk to participants with high blood pressure while sitting and lying down.
However, these differences in the use of blood pressure medications did not affect these higher risks in either group.
“Our findings suggest that people with known risk factors for heart disease and stroke may benefit from having their blood pressure checked while lying on their back,” Jiao said.
He added, “Efforts to manage blood pressure during daily life may help lower blood pressure during sleep,” recommending that “future research compare blood pressure measurements while lying down in the clinic with nighttime measurements.”
2023-09-10 11:26:04
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