Blood Pressure and Old man Winter

As with emotional and psychological problems that appear to have some seasonal variation, there is new data suggesting the cholesterol and hypertension also may fluctuate with the seasons.

In a recent five-year analysis of electronic records at 15 VA hospitals, the results revealed that antihypertensive medications are significantly less likely to restore normal BP in the winter than in the summer.

This effect was observed even in both cold and warm regions

The results showed that blood pressure systematically worsens in the winter and improves in the summer.

Every city in the study reflected a significant variation in return to normal BP in winter compared with summer.

The reasoning behind the variation is still unanswered, but some of the researchers believe the reason may be that people tend to exercise less and gain weight in winter.

Patients and physicians may need to be a little more aggressive and check blood pressures more frequently in the winter months to attain better and more consistent control