Blood pressure rhythm in normotensives and hypertensives: influence of age

摘要

34 normotensives and 73 hypertensives, aged 17-78 yrs (48±10.3), were enrolled in our study in order to evaluate the influence of aging on 24 hour blood pressure profile. The patients were subdivided into four groups according to age. Each patient underwent a 24 hour blood pressure monitoring with a non invasive device). We calculated hourly, daytime(7:00 am to 10:00 pm), nighttime (10:00 pm to 7:00 am), 24 hour average blood pressure values and 24 hour blood pressure variability. A statistically significant inverse correlation was observed between age and day-night differences, both in systolic and diastolic blood pres- sure values.