Why You May Want to Stand Up for Your Blood Pressure Check?

When you suddenly stand up, do you ever feel dizzy? Blood pools in the lower body when moving from sitting to standing. Blood flow to the brain can be slow because it takes the body a minute to pump blood higher, especially if you're thirsty or hot.

Most of the time, people only get this condition rarely, which never causes a big problem. But age, some drugs, and some diseases can make it harder for the body's natural way of controlling blood pressure to work. Most of the time, standing causes a small drop in systolic blood pressure, the "top" number that shows how much pressure blood puts on the walls of arteries when the heart contracts. So, researchers wondered if an abnormal response, like a rise in systolic blood pressure when a person stands up, could be used to predict heart events like heart attacks and strokes.

Researchers were surprised to find that even a small rise in blood pressure while standing up could make young and middle-aged people more likely to have these possibilities.

Patients whose blood pressure increases when they stand up may benefit from starting blood pressure-lowering treatment, like medicine, sooner if their blood pressure goes up too much when they stand up

How does Blood Pressure Work?

Blood pressure is the force at which the heart pumps blood through the body. To get an accurate picture, doctors examine the systolic and diastolic values. When the heart contracts, the systolic reading is taken, and when it relaxes, the diastolic reading is taken to measure the pressure on the blood vessels.

Blood pressure should be between 120 over 80 mm Hg and less than 120 over 80. When either the systolic or diastolic blood pressure is more than 140/90 mm Hg, this is called high blood pressure or hypertension.

High blood pressure makes you more likely to have other problems. For example, this syndrome can worsen heart disease, brain problems, vision loss, and kidney failure if they already exist. Anyone can get high blood pressure, but people in their 20s and 30s are more likely to have it.

Comparing Sleeping to the Standing Position

When measured correctly, a patient's blood pressure readings shouldn't change much when they change position. But people with an imbalance in their autonomic nervous system (ANS) may have a drop in BP when they stand up.

Most of the time, the autonomic nervous system (ANS) controls blood pressure by controlling how blood vessels constrict (narrow) and dilate (widen). Postural hypotension, or low blood pressure, is a drop in BP while standing that, if it's bad enough, can cause tiredness, dizziness, and even passing out.

If hypertension is treated with medicine, some people may have a big drop in blood pressure (BP) when they stand up. So, the doctor might give these people mild hypertension medicines.

Still, doctors may take a lot of readings to see if the patient's blood pressure drops when they move from lying down to sitting or standing. Orthostatic hypotension is what doctors call a big drop in blood pressure when you stand up.

In some people, going from sitting to standing has been linked to a rise in blood pressure.

Researchers wanted to find out if people whose blood pressure was higher when standing up than when lying down were also more likely to have heart and kidney problems.

Currently, orthostatic hypotension can only be found in older people on medication by taking their blood pressure while standing. Adults ages 18 to 40 can only have their blood pressure checked while lying down or sitting.

Abstract and Findings from the Study

In Italy, the study was done by 1,207 people between 18 and 45. These people have high blood pressure that has never been taken care of.

All test subjects were given physical exams so scientists could get baseline information. Blood and urine samples were also taken, and other factors, like body mass index, were considered.

People were asked about their level of physical activity and their health histories. They wrote down how much nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine each person drank.

While the people were lying down, their blood pressure was measured three times. Then, everyone stood still while three measurements were taken. Then, they compared the readings they got when the people sat up and lying down. They did it twice, with a two-week break between each time.

The research team called people with a rise in systolic blood pressure of more than 6.5 mm Hg "hyper reactors." Also, there was a lot more epinephrine in the urine of hyper reactors.

Over several years, scientists followed the study participants and kept track of any serious heart problems.

They found that people with high blood pressure whose blood pressure goes up quickly when they stand up had a higher risk of MACE.

People whose blood pressure response to standing was in the top 10% of the hyperreactive group were twice as likely to get MACE as people whose blood pressure response was more average.

People whose blood pressure went up from lying down to sitting up had higher levels of the hormone adrenaline in their urine. So, the researchers thought that more epinephrine produced by the body might cause high blood pressure. This makes sense since adrenaline is known to be a stress hormone that can cause heart problems.

Conclusion

Still, the results suggest that many blood pressure measurements in both sitting and standing may be needed for patients to accurately identify those at high risk for heart disease, especially younger people.

A high blood pressure response to standing strongly indicates heart problems even when resting blood pressure is considered.

The amount of blood pressure that increases when a person goes from sitting to standing might be important in predicting the future for young people with high blood pressure. Doctors were surprised to learn that even a small rise in blood pressure when standing could be a sign of serious heart problems in the future.