Effects of Ramadan fasting on blood pressure in hypertensive patients

Abstract

During Ramadan, repeated cycles of fasting and feeding might contribute to changes in blood pressure and heart rate among hypertensive patients. Studies on the effects of fasting on the blood pressure of hypertensive patients are scarce, and have provided inconclusive results. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of fasting on ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate in treated hypertensive subjects. The study prospectively recruited 40 hypertensive patients between April and June 2019, and followed up at the cardiology department of Habib Thameur Hospital of Tunis. A 24 hour pressure monitoring was carried out during three periods: prior to Ramadan, during Ramadan, and one month after. SPSS version 20 was used to perform the statistical analysis. The paired Student's t -test was used to compare data within the 3 periods. We studied 40 hypertensive subjects (65% women, 35% men), mean age was 57 ± 11years. Patients in the study group were using ACE inhibitors (15%), AT2 receptor blockers (17.5%), calcium channel blockers(17.5%), b-blockers(2.5%) and a combination treatment (47.5%). Average 24 h ambulatory blood pressure in the whole group was 129 ± 15/75 ± 8 mmHg before Ramadan, 127 ± 17/74 ± 8 mmHg during Ramadan and 126 ± 13/74 ± 7 in the following month ( P > 0.05). Daytime and night time mean values of systolic and diastolic blood pressure were not different between the three periods. This study showed a significant improvement in the heart rate during the second period in comparison with the first one ( P = 0.03). In this study, there were no significant changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressures during the 3 periods. There was a significant improvement in the heart rate during the ten last days of Ramadan, in comparison with the pre-Ramadan period. This suggest that fasting during the month of Ramadan, using the same medication might be non-threatening for patients with hypertension.