TALKING raises blood pressure, say a group of researchers in Paris. They warn
that people who chat to their doctor during a check-up could be prescribed drugs
they don鈥檛 need.
Cardiologists have known for some time that blood pressure can rise in a
doctor鈥檚 surgery. Claude le Pailleur and his colleagues at the Necker Hospital
wanted to know more about the factors involved. So they compared readings taken
while volunteers were sitting doing nothing with those taken when they were
talking or reading a book.
The readings of both systolic blood pressure, taken as blood surges from the
heart into the aorta, and background diastolic blood pressure, rose sharply as
patients talked (see Figure).
Reading a book caused a mild drop in blood
pressure compared with doing nothing, the researchers report in the latest
American Journal of Hypertension (vol 11, p 203).
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Le Pailleur believes the effect will influence the prescription of drugs that
can have side effects including headaches and dizziness. 鈥淯ndoubtedly, there are
many people who are getting drugs for hypertension when they don鈥檛 need them.鈥�