It is an almost systematic gesture in the doctor's office.
The measurement of blood pressure by the doctor is however quite insufficient to make the diagnosis of hypertension…
“We have known for several years that the pressure measured in the office is not the exact reflection of the blood pressure due to various phenomena.
The best known being the white coat effect: blood pressure is higher vis-à-vis the doctor than at home, ”
explains Dr Philippe Gosse, cardiologist at the Bordeaux University Hospital and author of
Living with arterial hypertension
(published on October 7 in Editions Marabout).
This phenomenon, qualified as an “alarm reaction” by doctors, is extremely frequent.
“It would be the cause of 20% of hypertension diagnoses.
Which is a lot when we know that hypertension generates 1 million new treatments each year in general medicine
,
”
says Professor Jacques Blacher, cardiologist and professor of therapy at the University of Paris Descartes.
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