Blood Pressure in Winter

Study suggests colder weather may affect blood pressure levels.

"Hypertension is harder to control in colder weather," according to findings presented at the American Heart Association's (AHA) annual meeting. The "study drew on a vast database," which included the "storehouse of 1.8 billion vital statistics records" of patients "cared for at 15 Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals located" across the nation. 

After analyzing 443,632 veterans, with a mean age of 66, researchers, led by Ross D. Fletcher, M.D., chief of staff at the VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C., discovered that "[b]lood pressure was nearly 8% less likely to return to normal in the winter than in the summer.

"People usually gain weight in the winter and lose weight in the summer. People tend to exercise more in the summer and less in the winter."

"The bottom line is that regardless of whether you're in Anchorage, Alaska, or San Juan, Puerto Rico, there is a difference in high blood pressure returning to normal in the winter compared to the summer,".