Blood pressure is one of the most important signs of your health. Usually, it’s checked while you’re sitting.
But a new study shows that checking your blood pressure while lying down might give doctors more helpful information—especially when it comes to your risk of heart disease.
The study was shared at the American Heart Association’s Hypertension Scientific Sessions in 2023. It was led by Duc M. Giao, a medical student at Harvard Medical School.
The team looked at health information from over 11,000 adults and found something surprising: blood pressure can change depending on your body position—whether you’re sitting, standing, or lying down.
About 16% of people in the study had high blood pressure only when lying down. When they were sitting, their blood pressure looked normal. This means that regular tests in the doctor’s office might miss these hidden cases of high blood pressure.
Even more concerning, people who had high blood pressure while lying down—even if it was normal while sitting—had a higher chance of heart disease, stroke, heart failure, and early death. Their risk was just as high as those who had high blood pressure in both positions.
This finding is important for people who want to take care of their heart health. It shows that testing blood pressure in more than one position—especially lying down—could give a better picture of your risk for heart problems.
If you’re middle-aged or at risk for heart disease or stroke, it might be helpful to ask your doctor to check your blood pressure while you’re lying down. It could reveal health risks you didn’t know you had.
The study focused mainly on middle-aged adults. In the future, researchers hope to see how lying-down blood pressure affects older people too.
Monitoring your blood pressure in different body positions might also help you control it better during sleep, which is important for keeping your heart strong.
In short, sitting blood pressure readings might not tell the whole story. Adding lying-down measurements to routine health checks could be a smart move. It might help catch problems earlier—and protect your heart in the long run.
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