High blood pressure? Turn up your thermostat

Published Monday 27 August 2018

By Tim Newman

Fact checked by Jasmin Collier

According to a recently published study, living in a 

cooler house might be a risk factor for hypertension. 

The authors believe that the temperature of the home

 should be discussed with people who are at risk.

Ambient temperature may play a significant role in hypertension.

Though hypertension rarely produces significant symptoms, it increases the risk that other more serious problems may develop, such as strokeand heart attack.

High blood pressure is increasingly prevalent and lays the groundwork for significant and potentially life-changing health outcomes.

For these reasons, it is important to understand why it occurs and how it can be managed. Many risk factors — such as older age, a family history of hypertension, an unhealthful diet, being overweight, smoking tobacco, and drinking too much alcohol — are already known.

A recent study, conducted at University College London (UCL) in the United Kingdom, adds a new risk factor to the list: the temperature of your home.

The research paper — titled 'My blood pressure is low today, do you have the heating on?' The association between indoor temperature and blood pressure — now appears in the Journal of Hypertension.