Hypertension Blood pressure can rise dangerously in cold rooms

In the recent heat wave, the houses were heated up. This is good for people with high blood pressure, especially if they do not like to do sports. This suggests a British study.

Blood pressure is influenced by many factors. Stress, aging, lack of exercise and frequent consumption of alcohol and cigarettes - all of which makes him rise. But what few people know: even cold can have this effect. This is proven by a study from England with data from more than 4600 adults, which has now been published in the "Journal of Hypertension".

The higher the temperature, the lower the blood pressure (Image: AlexMaster / fotolia.com)

Blood pressure and internal temperature measured simultaneously

The subjects were questioned intensively about health, habits and circumstances. They also received visits from nurses who measured their blood pressure simultaneously with the indoor temperature in the room. The result: the blood pressure was inversely proportionally higher the lower the room temperature was. And that is completely independent of the outside temperature, as the team around Stephen Jivraj from University College London reports. This relationship was particularly strong when respondents did little sport.

Low temperatures are a cause of increased strokes?

Other researchers have also found evidence that higher temperatures can lower blood pressure in the long term. However, the outdoor temperature effect was only about half that of living quarters, according to a study of around 115,000 participants from 16 countries. Individually measured values ​​such as indoor temperature are not yet routinely measured in research and diagnostics, Jivraj and his colleagues note. Like the authors of the international study, they believe that low temperatures may cause more people to die of stroke and heart disease in the winter months than in other seasons.

Warm interiors lower the risk

Conversely, heating homes may reduce the winter increase in high blood pressure and associated cardiovascular risks, especially in people who are not physically active. "In addition to a healthy lifestyle, it could help to keep the houses a little warmer," the experts concluded. Although no concrete value could be derived from the study itself, the researchers recommend a minimum of 21 degrees Celsius. (Fs)