I heard from client not long ago describing her spouse's predicament with blood pressure readings. When he takes the reading at home it is somewhere between normal and slightly elevated, but at the doctor's office it reads high.

I heard from client not long ago describing her spouse's predicament with blood pressure readings. When he takes the reading at home it is somewhere between normal and slightly elevated, but at the doctor's office it reads high.

While her husband said he doesn't feel nervous about going to the doctor or visiting with his doctor, my client wondered what role stress was playing on her husbands' blood pressure - even if on a subconcious level.

White Coat syndrome, or White Coat Hypertension is what describes this condition.

This is when a person's blood pressure at home reads normal but at the doctor's office or even at the office, the blood pressure reads high. This condition affects between 10 - 20% of the population.

Sometimes, though, medical personnel take incorrect readings. This is generally from using a blood pressure cuff that is to small and results in a high blood pressure read.

The question to pose oneself is: Does this syndrome create a health risk? The answer is - yes. While the risk of an event is lower than with chronic high blood pressure, it's risk is higher than normal.

Key, is understanding just how often your blood pressure increases and for how long it remains that way. It it only occurs only occasionally at the doctor's office, it may not be a concern. However, if your blood pressure is raised at work (and you spend several hours a day in that setting) then it could in fact lead to chronic hypertension.

A common occurrence is that many people simply decide that they must just be suffering from White Coat Syndrome.

This is not surprising, given the fact that most of us would prefer that we suffer from an annoying condition, rather than a serious health risk like chronic hypertension.

I strongly recommend you talk with your trusted health care professional to determine if you really do have White Coat Syndrome. I also highly recommend my all natural High Blood Pressure Program. The exercises are easy to perform and best of all - you don't need to make an office appointment to do them:)