Are You Certain It Is White Coat High Blood Pressure?

Some important information was obtained from a long term study just published in the Journal of Hypertension (2013). Some patients who thought they had ”White coat hypertension” (elevated blood pressure only in the doctor’s office) when followed with two random checks at home discovered that they had intermittent elevated blood pressures at home as well and went on to have a higher risk of ongoing health problems.

Over 2000 patients who had either normal blood pressure or elevated blood pressures in the doctor’s office were asked to check their blood pressures two different times over a 24 hour period.  A group of patients had normal blood pressures at home, some had one elevated blood pressure, and others had elevated blood pressures on both checks