Individuals who had hypertension while lying flat on their backs had the next risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure or premature death, in response to latest research to be presented on the American Heart Association’s Hypertension Scientific Sessions 2023, to be held Sept. 7-10, 2023, in Boston. The meeting is the premier scientific exchange focused on recent advances in basic and clinical research on hypertension and its relationship to cardiac and kidney disease, stroke, obesity and genetics.

The autonomic nervous system regulates blood pressure in several body positions; nonetheless, gravity may cause blood to pool when seated or upright, and the body is typically unable to properly regulate blood pressure during lying, seated and standing positions, the authors noted.

If blood pressure is just measured while persons are seated upright, heart problems risk could also be missed if not measured also while they’re lying supine on their backs.”

Duc M. Giao, lead study creator, researcher and a 4th-year M.D. student at Harvard Medical School, Boston

To look at body position, blood pressure and heart health risk, the researchers examined health data for 11,369 adults from the longitudinal Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. The info on supine and seated blood pressure was gathered in the course of the enrollment period, ARIC visit 1, which took place between 1987–1989. Participants had their blood pressure taken while briefly lying down at a clinic. The common age of participants at the moment was 54 years old; 56% of the group self-identified as female; and 25% of participants self-identified as Black race. Participants on this evaluation were followed for a median of 25 to twenty-eight years, up through ARIC visit 5, which incorporates health data collected from 2011-2013.

The researcher’s findings included:

• 16% percent of participants who didn’t have hypertension -; defined on this study as having top and bottom blood pressure measures greater than or equal to 130/80 mm Hg -; while seated had hypertension while lying supine (flat on their backs), in comparison with 74% of those with seated hypertension who also had supine hypertension.
• Compared to participants who didn’t have hypertension while seated and supine, participants who had hypertension while seated and supine had a 1.6 times higher risk of developing coronary heart disease; a 1.83 times higher risk of developing heart failure; a 1.86 times higher risk of stroke; a 1.43 times higher risk of overall premature death; and a 2.18 times higher risk of dying from coronary heart disease
• Participants who had hypertension while supine but not while seated had similar elevated risks as participants who had hypertension while each seated and supine.
• Differences in blood pressure medication use didn’t affect these elevated risks in either group.

“Our findings suggest individuals with known risk aspects for heart disease and stroke may profit from having their blood pressure checked while lying flat on their backs,” Giao said.

“Efforts to administer blood pressure during every day life may help lower blood pressure while sleeping. Future research should compare supine blood pressure measurements within the clinic with overnight measurements.”

The study’s limitations included that it focused on adults who were middle-aged on the time of enrollment, meaning the outcomes won’t be as generalizable to older populations, Giao said.

Source:

American Heart Association