Hypertension, Vol 12, 457-461, Copyright © 1988 by American Heart Association
M Timio, P Verdecchia, S Venanzi, S Gentili, M Ronconi, B Francucci, M Montanari and E Bichisao
In a prospective study, 144 white nuns belonging to a secluded monastic
order and 138 white control laywomen were followed for 20 years to
investigate whether living for a long time in a stress-free environment
influences the effect of aging on blood pressure. Silence, meditation, and
isolation from society are the distinctive features of the life- style
examined. At study entry, blood pressure was not dissimilar in the nuns and
the control group, but it increased over time only in the controls, with a
mean slope of the regression line (beta coefficient) of 0.089 in the nuns
(NS) and 2.171 in the controls (p less than 0.0001) for systolic blood
pressure and of 0.054 in the nuns (NS) and 0.742 in the controls (p less
than 0.0001) for diastolic blood pressure. Weight and body mass index
increased similarly over time in the two groups. Family history of
hypertension was not dissimilar between the groups. Serum cholesterol and
triglycerides, higher at study entry in the nuns, increased similarly over
time in the two groups. Twenty-four-hour urinary sodium excretion,
collected randomly in both groups, did not differ over time between nuns
and controls. None of the women smoked or used oral contraceptives.
Educational level was higher in the control group, but subgroups of 48 nuns
and 52 laywomen of comparable educational level maintained the same
difference in the blood pressure trend over time as in the main cohort.
Parity affected the increase of systolic, but not of diastolic, blood
pressure with age among the laywomen, but nuns and no-childbirth controls
maintained a significantly different blood pressure trend over
time.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
ARTICLES
Age and blood pressure changes. A 20-year follow-up study in nuns in a secluded order
Department of Internal Medicine and Nephrology, ULSS, Foligno Perugia, Italy.
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