Blood pressure variation among Tibetans at different altitudes

Abstract

Lower BP values among Tibetan children and adolescents at high altitude suggest that altitude affects BP as previously hypothesized, but only in youth. Similar BP in adults at low and high altitudes may reflect the effects of other variables on BP. Measures of adiposity (SFT, BMI and MUAC) have a significant effect on BP. Increase in BP with adult age is observed in Tibetans, which is similar to the pattern observed among populations undergoing modernization.

Mid-upper arm circumference as a screening measure for identifying children with hypertension

“…They would need to be generated before MUAC can be used clinically. However, many studies have shown that MUAC was correlated significantly with blood pressure [20][21][22]. Thus, we speculate that this method could be applied to other ethnic groups.…”

Growth trends in body, fat, circumferential and physiological traits during adolescence among Rajput females of Theog, Shimla District (Himachal Pradesh), India

“…Adolescence is an important life stage in developing central body fat patterning among individuals that predisposes them to coronary heart disease in their later lives (Kemper et al 1999). Consequently, growth studies are increasingly including blood pressure and other physiological traits to study changes in these traits during childhood and adolescence (Talwar et al 2003;Rao et al 2005;Tripathy and Gupta 2007). Keeping these contemporary trends in mind, the present growth study included anthropometric traits, estimation of body fat by BIA and other physiological traits following specific objectives: to report growth patterns in body, fat and physiological traits during adolescence among Himalayan Rajput girls; to compare weight and height measurements of the present sample with those of affluent Indians, other samples from the same area and NCHS values to study general nutritional adequacy; inter-trait correlation trends during adolescence; to determine the age at menarche and to test the validity of various known hypotheses on adolescent growth patterns reported on the basis of other studies.…”

Hypertension at High Altitude

“…Occasionally, this position is supported by the results of studies in recent years [70][71][72]. But over the past decade, a number of studies received the data which are contrary to this popular point of view [73][74][75][76]. So, Otsuka K et al [75] showed higher diastolic pressure and thicker walls of arteries in highaltitude residents (Leh, Ladakh) compared with sea-level residents.…”

“…So, Otsuka K et al [75] showed higher diastolic pressure and thicker walls of arteries in highaltitude residents (Leh, Ladakh) compared with sea-level residents. Moreover, in another study [76] which examined a large sample size (more than 1,000 subjects) of Tibetans at different altitudes, significantly lower BPs were revealed only in children and adolescents living at high altitude, while there were no differences between adult residents living at low and high altitude. Tripathy et al [77] reported that the prevalence of hypertension among adult Tibetans in India was 37.9 %.…”