When you visit the doctor, your blood pressure is usually measured while you’re sitting. It’s a standard part of most check-ups and a key way to check how healthy your heart is.
But new research suggests this routine method might miss an important warning sign. It turns out that some people may only show high blood pressure when they’re lying flat on their back—and this could still raise their risk for serious heart problems.
This surprising discovery was presented at the American Heart Association’s Hypertension Scientific Sessions in 2023. The study, led by Duc M. Giao, a medical student at Harvard Medical School, followed the health records of more than 11,000 adults.
These participants had their blood pressure measured while lying down in a clinic back in the late 1980s, and researchers tracked their health for nearly 30 years.
Here’s what they found: about 16% of the participants had normal blood pressure while seated, but it spiked when they were lying down. That means almost 1 in 6 people had hidden high blood pressure that might have gone unnoticed during a typical doctor’s visit.
Even more concerning, the study showed that people who had high blood pressure while lying down had a higher chance of developing heart disease, including heart attacks, stroke, and heart failure. They were also more likely to die earlier than those with normal blood pressure. And this was true even for those whose seated blood pressure looked perfectly fine.
In simple terms, having high blood pressure in just one body position—lying down—was enough to raise the risk of serious health problems. This suggests that the way your body manages blood pressure in different positions could be more important than we realized.
So, what does this mean for you?
If you’re already at risk for heart disease or stroke, you may want to ask your doctor to check your blood pressure in more than one position. Lying-down readings could give you and your doctor a more complete picture of your heart health. It might also help explain symptoms like dizziness, fatigue, or headaches that don’t seem to match your usual blood pressure readings.
The researchers believe that monitoring blood pressure during daily activities—and even during sleep—could help people manage their condition more effectively. This is especially important for middle-aged adults, the group studied in the research. Future studies will look at whether this also applies to older adults.
In short, this research shows that traditional blood pressure checks may not tell the whole story. A simple test while lying down could be a valuable tool in spotting hidden heart risks and preventing future problems. It’s one more reason to stay informed and talk to your doctor about the best ways to monitor your health.
If you care about blood pressure, please read studies about unhealthy habits that could increase high blood pressure risk, and eating eggs in a healthy diet may reduce risks of diabetes, high blood pressure.
For more information about blood pressure, please see recent studies that early time-restricted eating could help improve blood pressure, and results showing 12 foods that lower blood pressure.
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