Climatic and meteorological regularities of the indices of 24-hours blood pressure monitoring and antihypertensive effect of amlodipine in patients with essential hypertension

Abstract

Climatic and meteorological conditions are one of the factors essentially effecting not only the frequency of cardiovascular catastrophies but determining arterial hypertension course in general. In order to study blood pressure (BP) profiles depending on climatic and meteorological conditions we made a comparative analyses of the 24-hours monitoring of BP and climatic and meteorological characteristics. We compared the levels and variability of arterial BP, an increase of BP in the morning and a decrease at night with hourly indices of the speed of the wind, atmospheric pressure, cloudiness, dampness, meteorological phenomena and the weather type. We also have studied the effect of amlodipine on 24-hour BP. Ceteris paribus it was found that the percent time elevation according to the systolic and diastolic BP are the lowest in the 1st weather type and constitute 32.1 ± 1.3% and 18.5 ± 0.9%, respectively. In the 2nd and 3rd types it increases according to the systolic BP up to 42.3 ± 2.0% and 56.3 ± 2.1% and the diastolic arterial pressure up to 48.3 ± 2.1% and 64.3 ± 2.8%. A greater increase in the diastolic BP demands searching for the drugs to overcome non-stability of the diastolic BP. After 3 weeks of treatment amlodipine produced a significant decrease both systolic and diastolic BP from 164.38 ± 1.21 to 139.47 ± 1.04 mm Hg and from 99.50 ± 1.06 to 87.41 ± 0.97 mm Hg, respectively (p < 0.001 for both). The percent mean change of systolic and diastolic BP from baseline for daytime BP was also greater with amlodipine at week 3. The most critical meteorological characteristics were the wind speed and formation of extraordinary meteorological phenomena. It was in these conditions that non-stability of arterial pressure was significant. Amlodipine provides adequate antihypertensive coverage in meteorologically-dependent patients.