Nurses General Nursing
Published Mar 5, 2002
RNIAM, BSN, RN
1,214 Posts
How much can being nervous ,increase your blood preassure?
TMPaul
195 Posts
According to the American Heart Associations book titled Hypertension Primer, stress can elevate blood pressure as much as 30 mm Hg. There are other factors (diet, weight, coexsisting morbidities, etc) that can also contribute to hypertension.
OBNURSEHEATHER
1,961 Posts
I agree that nervousness would increase BP, just as pain would. (and it's not a stupid question :) )
I think this is what they refer to as "white coat syndrome".
Heather
newjerseynurse
4 Posts
Heather is correct in what she says about "white coat syndrome"
Actually any body sensor that becomes changed can change one'e bp. It is natural for all things that elevate any senses to effect bp. The only difference may be the amount of time the bp has changed. It could be for a very minimal time or for a long time as with high bp.
kewlnurse
427 Posts
vaso constriction, part of the fight/flight response
yep that is me during any type of phyisical. Thank you everyone. It turned out ok.