POSTPRANDIAL CARDIOVASCULAR-RESPONSE IN NONINSTITUTIONALIZED NORMOTENSIVE ELDERLY

Objective: To investigate the daily blood pressure pattern and the res ponse to a meal and to common daily activities in healthy, non-institu tionalized, normotensive elderly. Design and methods: Thirty-five non- institutionalized healthy individuals aged 72.5+/-4 years, and 32 youn g normotensive controls aged 45+/-7 years were investigated. All parti cipants underwent a standing-up test and 24 h ambulatory blood pressur e monitoring. Results: A large postprandial systolic blood pressure fa ll without any significant heart rate increase was observed in the eld erly group. The blood pressure fall was significantly more marked in t hose with asymptomatic orthostatic hypotension. Conclusion: Elderly in dividuals experience a more marked blood pressure decrease after a mea l than younger controls. This pattern is even more pronounced in the e lderly with a positive standing-up test for orthostatic hypotension.