White Coat Syndrome: Symptoms, Causes, And What To Do About It
It is common to go to our nearest mental health center for a routine check-up. There the doctors and nurses will take our vital signs, such as temperature, pulse, respiratory rate and also blood pressure.
It happens to some that, upon entering a hospital, they become ill, very nervous. They have so many nerves that their blood pressure momentarily rises so much that the values are those of hypertension.
This phenomenon is known as white coat syndrome and it is very important to take this into account when diagnosing and treating patients, as it entails the risk of treating hypertension that, in reality, is not real.
White coat syndrome or white coat hypertension is a condition in which a transient increase in blood pressure occurs when the patient is in a healthcare setting, such as a hospital, clinic or outpatient site, with “white coat” professionals. This condition is believed to affect about 30% of the general population.
In the spaces that exist, it is common for basic vital signs to be measured, precisely to be able to detect if there is any health problem, such as temperature, pulse, frequency and blood pressure.
At first, white coat syndrome may seem unimportant and even somewhat jocular. It represents the classic situation of a patient, male or female, who is so nervous about being in the hospital that his nerves cause his blood pressure to go through the roof. However, what is not funny at all is the risk of it being treated as hypertension, which, in reality, is nothing more than a one-off.
If the doctor or nurse does not take into account the possibility that the patient suffers from white coat syndrome, a false positive for hypertension may occur. It is true that, normally, it could be that this patient has hypertension and will need to take medication, but what if this is not the case? What if his levels are normal when he is away from the hospital? Then there is a risk of medicating a patient who is healthy or giving them higher doses of medication than they need.
Typically, people with white coat syndrome are normotensive, that is, their usual blood pressure levels are not elevated and, therefore, they do not require any treatment for hypertension, as they simply do not have that problem.
Causes
The explanation behind the appearance of this curious phenomenon is that there are people who feel very uncomfortable when they are in healthcare spaces.
They interpret the place as a threatening environment, even though they know rationally that they are safe and nothing has to happen to them. However, his brain does not see it that way, and sends an alarm signal to the entire organism. This causes an increase in several vital signs, including those that doctors and nurses measure, such as blood pressure.
In some patients, having a doctor take their vital signs causes them to increase on their own. Naturally, this It depends a lot on the patient’s negative predisposition whether you are more or less nervous than normal, or whether you perceive the hospital as a place where you receive bad news and worry about what your doctor may tell you.
Other factors that influence the appearance of white coat syndrome are:
Diagnosis
White coat syndrome is diagnosed when the doctor or healthcare professional notices that the patient’s blood pressure values taken at the health center do not correspond to the usual values. That is, if the doctor discovers that the patient’s blood pressure is usually lower when he is not in the hospital, the possibility should be considered that the patient may have been very nervous when this constant was taken, so much so that it caused him to identify like hypertension.
Taking into account the characteristics of the syndrome, it may seem complicated to know if the patient has this problem. The reality is that it is quite simple. What should be done is for the patient to measure their blood pressure at home, following the advice of experts. If you do it at home, calmly, without noise and at a comfortable temperature, you are more likely to obtain blood pressure values that are more in line with reality, regardless of whether they are healthy or indicative of hypertension.
If the levels at home correspond to those considered normal but those taken in the hospital are clearly much higher, it is quite likely that the patient has white coat syndrome or that the day he went to the hospital he became nervous about the fact. of being there. He is a normotensive person, although the devices used by the doctor say otherwise.
What to do and how to measure your blood pressure correctly?
Finally, we do not want to close the article without making clear some of the general recommendations for the correct measurement of blood pressure, whether at home or in the hospital environment. There are certain aspects that may seem of little importance, but they are precisely what make the difference between a false diagnosis of hypertension and a true one, caused by real blood pressure problems.
There are details that can cause blood pressure values to increase, the most obvious being take the measurement at a time of extreme nervousness or anxiety or if you are suffering from any type of physical pain.
It is recommended not to smoke at least half an hour before and not to drink stimulating drinks (coffee, tea, cola, energy drinks…). You should not do sports activity the hour before taking your blood pressure and it is very important to urinate before the test, because having the urge to urinate can alter the results.
These recommendations are useful both when the measurement is done at home and in the health center. Taking into account that pharmacies are health spaces where the time that the patient can stay there is not so limited, unlike hospitals, it is advisable to do it in the usual pharmacy, trying to be relaxed and being able to repeat it whenever we want.
If the blood pressure values are normal later at home, no treatment is required, although it is advisable to maintain a healthy lifestyle. You should pay attention to your diet, making it healthy and balanced, not abusing salt and exercising regularly.
