What is white coat syndrome and is it possible to fight it?

What is white coat syndrome

White coat syndrome is a phenomenon in which blood pressure in a hospital becomes higherthan at home. Systolic - by 10–20 mm. rt. Art., diastolic - by 5–10.

It is believed that the stress that patients may experience in the presence of medical staff is to blame. But it also happens that a person does not feel any worries, but the pressure still rises.

White coat syndrome can be detected through home measurements and 24-hour monitoring, a procedure in which a person wears a portable recorder and walks around with it for 24 hours.

However, the presence of an effect does not indicate problems with the cardiovascular system. Indeed, despite the higher readings when measured in the hospital, the pressure may still remain within the normal range.

If, during a visit to a medical facility, the tonometer gives 140/90 mm. rt. Art. or higher, and with daily monitoring the indicators do not go beyond 135/85 and this story is repeated three times, They say about white coat hypertension (WHC).

Is white coat syndrome dangerous?

White coat syndrome occurs in both people with hypertension and those who do not suffer from high blood pressure. The degree of risk depends on how it manifests itself.

The white coat effect itself is not particularly dangerous. Blood pressure can remain within normal limits even during hospital measurements, but at home it can just be even lower. For example, in a medical facility it should be 130/80 mm. rt. Art., and at home - 110/70. In this case, the person will not be prescribed medications for hypertension, since pressure is within normal limits.

In one study discoveredthat the white coat effect is often accompanied by rapid heartbeat and “non-dipping” - the absence of a normal decrease in blood pressure at night. At the same time, scientists notethat the effect itself is not that dangerous and is not associated with organ damage.

Another thing is white coat hypertension. This condition is more common in women and patients with obese and often worsens with age. People with GBH are 2.5 times more likely to development persistent hypertension - high blood pressure, despite taking three antihypertensive drugs, including diuretics.

Also in patients suffering from this condition, are watching worse vascular function, higher left ventricular mass index and increased risk development hypertrophy of this part of the heart.

Is it possible to fight white coat syndrome?

To reduce some of the stress that may affect your test results, advise come to the medical facility in advance and spend some time there. This will give you the opportunity to get used to the situation and transfer the nervous system to a more relaxed state. calm state.

If these measures do not help and your blood pressure in the hospital is higher than at home, tell your doctor. He may order 24-hour blood pressure monitoring to look for white coat syndrome and perform other tests to look for possible causes of hypertension.

General tips for lowering blood pressure include healthy diet and increase physical activity. However, in any case, it is worth talking about this with a doctor and not ignoring the tonometer readings in a medical facility, citing stress.