• Indications for use of ABPM
• White Coat Hypertension
• ABPM leaflet
• Your ABPM appointment explained
• Results of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring

White Coat Hypertension

Hypertension is the medical word for high blood pressure. White coat hypertension means that your blood pressure is high when you are in a medical setting but once at home, or following your normal daily routine your blood pressure returns to a more normal level.

Blood pressure normally goes up and down during a 24 hour period. Many things can affect your blood pressure such as exercise, emotion and pain. When some patients have their blood pressure taken at the doctors, many report to feel nervous. It may be no surprise to these patients that their anxiety could be having an effect on their blood pressure. Other patients are unaware of any feelings of anxiety and appear relaxed, although they may still have white coat hypertension.

Finding out if you have white coat hypertension is important as it can determine if you need treatment for your blood pressure or not. It is also important to determine so that you are not prescribed too much medication.

There are two ways to find out if you have white coat hypertension. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring which takes your blood pressure regularly over 24 hours, or home blood pressure monitoring where you take several blood pressure readings yourself at home.