It's estimated one in three Americans
suffers from high blood pressure or hypertension... for some patients
their measurements go up the minute they walk through the door of
their doctor's office.

“This is what we call white coat
hypertension actually and it is a real syndrome that we see not
infrequently in our clinical practice.”

    Hypertension Specialist Dr. Rhian Touyz
says in some stressful situations the nervous system may trigger
blood pressure to go up. Doctors say over time it could put a patient
at higher risk for a serious illness.

“Patients with white coat
hypertension have similar risks with respect to cardiovascular
outcomes, stroke, heart disease as patients with essential
hypertension.”

    In other words... traditional high
blood pressure. If a doctor suspects it might be white coat
hypertension, a patient may be asked to wear a special blood pressure
cuff.

“The device allows us to measure
blood pressure every 10 to 15 minutes over 24 hours.”

    Touyz suggests another method might be
to check your own blood pressure reading at home or at a drug store
and keep a diary to share with your doctor.