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White-coat hypertension” is recognized as a common cause of an elevated blood pressure reading in the absence of sustained high blood pressure. For whatever reason, some people become inordinately anxious and tense in the setting of a doctor’s office, and their body’s reaction may include a temporary elevation in blood pressure. Interestingly, in people with white-coat hypertension, the problem seems to be related mainly to medical settings and not to other situations that cause tension. A series of blood pressure readings taken at home can help sort out the problem.

The most important issue to resolve is whether blood pressure becomes elevated in response to other types of stress. Wearing an ambulatory blood pressure monitor can assess that possibility. This device can record a series of readings throughout the day and night. Keeping a diary of your activities while you’re wearing the monitor may help determine whether any elevated readings were associated with particular activities or situations.

White-coat hypertension generally doesn’t require drug treatment but may be another reason to adjust lifestyle, such as losing weight, limiting alcohol use, not smoking and exercising regularly. People with the problem may be at an increased risk of developing sustained, true high blood pressure and should have their blood pressure monitored periodically.