A Brief Introduction to White Coat Syndrome
You have a digital blood pressure monitor to keep track of your blood pressure. Every time you monitor, you find that your blood pressure is normal. However, your blood pressure increases when you visit a doctor. This is known as white coat syndrome. The home blood pressure monitor shows 120/80 mm Hg when the blood pressure is normal. If it is above this reading, you have high blood pressure. You may think that white coat syndrome is a minor issue related to anxiety associated with doctors. However, it's not normal. It may indicate a serious blood pressure condition.
White coat hypertension occurs in medical settings. On the other hand, regular hypertension occurs in many other situations. 15 to 30% of the high blood pressure patients in clinical settings have white coat hypertension. W...