RUDN University Doctors Tested a Novel Approach to Detecting Future Arterial Hypertension in Healthy People

January 17, 2023 — Arterial hypertension(AH), or high blood pressure, can be prevented if diagnosed pre-clinically on time. The risk of hypertension increases significantly with orthostatic circulatory disorders. Even minor disorders that do not cause any concern to a person increase the risk of developing hypertension. Various tests are used to diagnose orthostatic disorders, but they are not quite accurate. RUDN’s doctors in collaboration with the Federal Research and Clinical Center of Intensive Care Medicine and Rehabilitology tested a novel protocol for a passive orthostatic test and compared the results for residents of African and European origin. 

“Hypertension remains one of the most common diseases in the world, especially in African countries. Arterial hypertension does not take off with an increase in blood pressure - in healthy young people; We can identify several factors that significantly increase the risk of developing the arterial hypertension. “Our goal was to identify preclinical orthostatic disorders and their differences in young adult Africans and Europeans using a newly developed test,” Marina Petrova, MD, Head of the Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimatology with the Course of Medical Rehabilitation at Medical institute, RUDN University. 

The key feature of the new passive orthostatic test protocol was the use of an individual head-up tilt angle, which provided a standard gravitational load regardless of the height of the subject. 

Orthostatic deviations, precursors of arterial hypertension, were found in 32.5% of Africans and 20% of Europeans. These results correlate with the higher prevalence of arterial hypertension in African countries. However, this is contrary to the fact that the elasticity of blood vessels turned out to be higher in young Africans. 

“Our results show the ability to detect preclinical orthostatic disorders in young people using a new technique. This may serve as a basis for further research on their orthostatic evolution and transformation into risk factors. The new protocol can be used in large scale studies to assess the orthostatic regulation of blood circulation, the rate of vascular aging and identify early predictors of hypertension,” Marina Petrova, MD, Head of the Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimatology with the Course of Medical Rehabilitation at Medical institute, RUDN University. 

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