For people who had high blood pressure readings only when they sat (normal readings while lying), there were no statistically significant differences in the risk of coronary heart disease, heart failure or stroke compared to people with normal blood pressure. The only statistically significant differences were a 41 percent higher risk of fatal coronary heart disease (compared to the 78 percent observed in those with high readings found) and an 11 percent higher risk of mortality by all causes.
(In this study, high blood pressure readings were defined for both positions such as those with systemic readings (the upper number) of 130 mm Hg or major or diastolic readings (the lower number) of 80 mm Hg or more).
People with the greatest risks in all areas were those who had high blood pressure readings while sitting and lying down.
“These findings suggest that supine measurement [lying down] BP can be useful to identify the high risk of BP and Latent ECV, “the researchers conclude.
Strengths and hypotheses
For now, findings should be considered preliminary. Such analysis and finding should be repeated with a different group of people to confirm the link. And as for the broader question of whether using medications for lower supine blood pressure (instead of sitting blood pressure) is more effective in reducing the risk, clinical trials are likely to be necessary.
Even so, the analysis had some notable strengths that make the findings digites attention. The size and design of the study are robust. Researchers took advantage of the data of the Atherosclerosis Risk Study in Communities (Aric), a study established in 1987 with medium -sized people living in one of the four American communities (Forsyth County, North Carolina; Jackson, Mississippi; Suburban Minneapolis , Minnesota;