Changes in blood pressure in the lying and sitting positions in normotensive, borderline and hypertensive subjects

Abstract

Blood pressure of hypertensive subjects reacts differently from that of borderline or normal subjects at rest in either sitting or lying positions. In the hypertensive group the diastolic pressure tends to rise more on consecutive measurements and the systolic blood pressure tends to fall less than in the two other groups. Similarly, on going from the lying to the sitting position, diastolic blood pressure of hypertensives rises less than that of normotensive or borderline hypertensive individuals. Thus, people with 'casual' hypertension differ in their reaction to rest and changes in body position in their reaction to rest and changes in body position with respect to normotensives or borderline hypertensives. This behavior could lead to labelling of subjects as 'normal' or 'hypertensive' depending on position and timing of the blood pressure measurement.