CLINICAL RELEVANCE OF ABOUT-YEARLY CHANGES IN BLOOD-PRESSURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Changes identified by inferential statistics from summer to winter of high to low arterial blood pressures (BP) have been quantified as a la rge predictable about-yearly BP swing. This condition of a large annua l BP amplitude (LABPA) raises concern about hypotension as well as hyp ertension and raises new questions regarding appropriate guidelines fo r diagnosis and treatment. Recommendations made in the fall on the bas is of data collected in the summer may be totally inadequate in dealin g with the patient's condition in the winter. In order to avoid such m istakes, it is imperative to implement a systematic surveillance of BP in the light of current chronobiological limits. Patients with a larg e circannual BP amplitude are particularly suited for a study of the u nderlying hormonal mechanisms. The longitudinal monitoring of their BP is also amenable to the study of environmental influences from near a nd far.