Blood Pressure Changes from Common Activities

Everybody knows that certain things--lifting heavy weights, rage, anything connected with Rush Limbaugh--can raise blood pressure levels. (Limbaugh is an interesting case in that he seems to raise the blood pressure of people who can't stand him--but also seems to raise the blood pressure of his fans. Some media personalities need to be taken with a grain of salt, but Limbaugh is apparently the equivalent of about a handful of salt.)

What few people know--and scientists didn't know until the advent of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring--is how much blood pressure can be increased by normal, everyday activities. Chances are your doctor isn't aware of these facts, either (otherwise they wouldn't talk to you when they are taking your blood pressure).

Below is a table that lists the average change in blood pressure from everyday activities. Perhaps you won't be surprised that attending a meeting can raise your blood pressure by 20/15 (I've been to some that surely raised my blood pressure more than that). But the process of eating raises blood pressure by about 9/10. Getting dressed jumps it up by about 12/10.

Merely talking to someone raises blood pressure on average by 7/7 (and talking to doctors and nurses is probably a little more stressful than talking to, say, your grandmother). Talking on the telephone is even worse--a jump of about 10/7, even if you aren't talking to a telemarketer.


Unfortunately there is no data on what happens to your blood pressure when you have to listen to someone else yammering on their cell phone, but I'm guessing this gets as high as 30/20.

This underlines three major points. First, your blood pressure fluctuates a great deal during the course of a normal day. The idea that any single measurement tells you your average blood pressure is clearly incorrect. Blood pressure jumps around from moment to moment.

Second, since all of the scientific recommendations on hypertension are based on relaxed, resting blood pressure, without any of the seemingly innocous activities listed above, you need to be aware that blood pressure measurements taken without full relaxation, or while talking, or reading, or watching television, are probably too high to reflect the scientific benchmark.

Third, given all this varability, it is wise to be very suspicious of "trends" identified by your doctor. If your blood pressure is up, say, five points from your previous visit, does it really mean anything? Was your reading taken perfectly this time? Did you have time to relax, and five minutes without any distractions such as conversation?

This is the reason home monitoring is so important; a handful of measurements made under imperfect conditions at your doctor's office shouldn't be allowed to determine everything about the course of your treatment.

But it's your responsibility to make sure those home measurements are taken correctly.