What is white coat hypertension?

Whitecoat hypertension is a condition in which some patients have elevated blood pressure when their blood pressure is measured in a doctor's office, but their blood pressure is normal when they self-test at home or do two or four-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring with a device carried by the patient themselves and no medical personnel present.

This may be due to the increased heart rate of the patient after seeing a doctor in a white coat, as well as the presence of excessive catecholamines in the blood, which also causes peripheral vasoconstriction and increased resistance, resulting in the so-called white coat effect, thus causing an increase in blood pressure.

With the progress of research on the diagnosis and prevention of hypertension, white coat hypertension is receiving more and more attention, and epidemiological surveys have found that white coat hypertension accounts for 9% to 16% of patients with hypertension.

At present, the mechanism of the disease is not too clear, and most people believe that it is related to mental stress, which may be related to the stress response and or alertness response generated by the patient.

It has been found that this white coat hypertension may be an intermediate state between normal blood pressure and persistent hypertension, and the incidence is higher in young women and non-smoking people, so this white coat hypertension should be strengthened with follow-up observation.

Whitecoat hypertension is when blood pressure is measured in the hospital due to mental tension, anxiety, and sympathetic excitement, resulting in elevated blood pressure, while blood pressure is normal when measured at home because it is very relaxed. 

The following methods can defeat white coat hypertension.

1. You should communicate with your doctor before taking your blood pressure.

2. Do your psychological adjustment, do deep breathing, rest for 20 minutes, and then test your blood pressure.

3. Eat some calming and calming food beforehand, such as bananas, milk, sour dates, etc. If necessary, take some sedatives, such as Valium, etc.

4. Severe cases can see a psychiatrist for psychological guidance.

5. Further do ambulatory blood pressure monitoring to clarify whether there is hypertension or not.

Although white coat hypertension is not high blood pressure, some studies have confirmed that people with white coat hypertension are more likely to suffer from hypertension after years than normal people, so we should pay attention to white coat hypertension. Adjust your emotions in time and actively improve your lifestyle to avoid developing true hypertension.