Blood pressure is one of the main ways doctors check the health of your heart and blood vessels.
It shows how hard your heart has to work to move blood around your body.
High blood pressure often causes no warning signs, but over time it can damage the heart, brain, kidneys, and other organs. That is why regular blood pressure checks are an important part of staying healthy.
Most people have their blood pressure measured while sitting in a chair during a visit to the doctor. This has been the standard method for many years.
However, new research suggests that checking blood pressure in only one body position may miss some people who are already at higher risk of serious heart problems.
The research was presented at the American Heart Association’s Hypertension Scientific Sessions 2023. The study was led by Duc M. Giao, a medical student at Harvard Medical School.
The researchers studied the health records of more than 11,000 adults. Their blood pressure was measured while they were lying flat between 1987 and 1989. The team then followed their health for almost 30 years to see who later developed heart disease or other serious health problems.
The results showed that about 16% of the participants had high blood pressure while lying down even though their blood pressure was normal when they were sitting. This means many people could appear healthy during a routine blood pressure test but still have hidden problems that are not being detected.
The study found that people with high blood pressure while lying down had a greater risk of heart disease, heart failure, stroke, and early death. Even people whose blood pressure was high only when lying down faced a higher risk than those whose blood pressure stayed normal in both positions.
These findings suggest that the body controls blood pressure differently depending on body position. A reading taken while sitting may not always show what happens during rest or sleep. Measuring blood pressure in more than one position could give doctors a better understanding of a person’s heart health.
The findings are especially important for middle-aged adults because this group made up most of the study. More research is still needed to learn whether the same pattern is seen in older people and other groups. Even so, the results suggest that a simple change in the way blood pressure is checked could help identify hidden health risks much earlier.
If future studies confirm these findings, doctors may consider adding lying-down blood pressure checks for people who have a higher risk of heart disease or stroke. Finding hidden high blood pressure earlier could allow treatment to begin sooner and may help prevent heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, and premature death.
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