News - Hypertension Week of July 20, 2003/ Vol. 2 No. 29

Study: Doctors Urged to Use Variable Benchmark for Hypertension

High blood pressure is one of the most important cardiovascular risk factors, but one researcher believes that doctors should use different benchmarks depending on whether the readings are taken at home or in the physician's office.

Dr. Ángela Cía Huarte of the Public University of Navarre in Spain said her research indicates that people whose blood-pressure readings were taken at home should be diagnosed with hypertension at a lower level than those whose blood-pressure readings were taken by medical personnel.

Doing so, Huarte said, would compensate for the ''white coat'' effect, noting that many patients register a higher blood pressure level in the presence of medical personnel than in their usual surroundings.

For those who measure their blood pressure at home, Huarte said hypertension should be diagnosed if their blood pressure measures 130 over 81.

Huarte argued that the last established threshold for hypertension for blood pressure measured at home, 135/85, is in fact too high.

A higher reading at a doctor's office, however, does not necessarily mean that the patient is suffering from hypertension, Huarte added, suggesting that hypertension should be diagnosed at a doctor's office ony when blood pressure exceeds 140 over 90.

Huarte also said that to get a true picture, it is necessary to take three blood pressure readings in the morning, three in the afternoon and three at night over three days. She added that only the very first reading on the first day needs to be discarded.

Huarte came to these conclusions after studying the blood pressure levels of 1,136 persons in villages in Navarre.

Other sources: Elhuyar