When a patient goes in for a doctor’s appointment, one of the first evaluations is for high blood pressure. If their blood pressure turns out to be high, patients will often have excuses like, “I always have high blood pressure when I come to see you, I’m just nervous for this appointment.” While this cause is a legitimate explanation, it should start a further conversation, not an excuse to get the physician to move onto the next subject.
Are you one of the many patients who minimize their high blood pressure as stress? Research findings suggest you may want further explore your causes for high blood pressures rather than excusing them and moving on.
High Blood Pressure Numbers Surge
If a patient has high blood pressure, their excuse is often something called “white coat syndrome.” This is where an increase in blood pressure occurs simply because a physician is present sporting a white coat. Even physicians without a white coat can cause patients’ blood pressure readings to skyrocket. Elevated readings are also often blamed on life’s events: forgetting to comply with medications, drinking too many cups of caffeine, and sprinting to arrive for appointments on time.
Though these can be legitimate causes, studies find that many people routinely hear their high blood pressure numbers, cite their excuse, and do not come up with an active follow-up plan for how to reduce the problem in the future. Constantly ignoring your blood pressure reading this way can come back to haunt you.
The standard definition of high blood pressure (also known as “hypertension”) used to be 140 over 90, according to the “High Blood Pressure Clinical Practice Guidelines.” This journal article has now changed the definition to a lower number. This means that more US citizens are considered to have hypertension– a jump from 32 percent under the old definition to nearly 46 percent. For perspective, 103 million US adults with high blood pressure are at risk for heart attack and stroke (a statistic from the American Heart Association) and there has been an 11 percent increase in the death rate from high blood pressure in the United States.
Rather than using “white coat hypertension” as an excuse, thereby increasing your risk of having a heart attack or a stroke, you can turn your excuse into a conversation starter with your healthcare provider to reduce your risk.
White Coat Hypertension
Yes, anxiety can increase blood pressure. When the body is in a stressful situation, experiencing a traumatic event, or otherwise being in a state of extreme anxiety, the body responds with a sensation often known as “fight or flight.” Elevating your body’s blood pressure is one of the first changes that happen when you’re in a fight or flight situation, but this can be reduced with meditation, increasing familiarity of the environment, or being reassured of safety.
“White-Coat Hypertension,” on the other hand, is a condition where individuals with normal blood pressure become hypertensive during blood pressure measurements in a medical environment. These elevations simply do not go away, even with meditation or other techniques. It is important to understand the difference before attributing your high blood pressure readings to your “white-coat” condition.
Plan for Blood Pressure Readings
Good health is best achieved with a partnership between you and your health provider. An elevated blood pressure reading is a signal to monitor your body more often. Obtaining your own blood pressure device can be the first step in analyzing the validity of results if you are predisposed to “white coat hypertension”. All devices should be checked for accuracy and proper use by your health provider.
The new hypertension guidelines emphasize the importance of accurate blood pressure testing. The following are some tools to maximize the accuracy of blood pressure tests during your appointments:
- Use deep breathing and other well-known stress management techniques to enter a relaxed state
- Arrive early to allow enough time to relax. Arriving late and stressed can increase the test results.
- Avoid caffeine and smoking, and exercise for thirty minutes before tithe test.
- Wear clothes that can be removed from the cuff area.
- Empty your bladder before arriving at the appointment
- Don’t cross your legs during the test
- Don’t talk during the test
- Comply with the blood pressure medication prescribed
Know Your Body
Become more aware of your overall health. Adopting a package of nutrition, exercise, sleep and stress management is often prescribed for early elevated intervention. Blood pressure is a measure of vital bodily functions. Whether the numbers are high or low, it should be on your personal radar. However, elevated blood pressures should be carefully monitored, even if it is assumed to be due to “white coat hypertension.”
An elevated blood pressure can be the start of a new relationship between you, your pressure testing device and your health provider.
Your good health starts with you!