Abstract
Morning hypertension refers to high BP in the morning period, regardless of BP during the rest of the hours of the day. Morning hypertension is defined as morning BP ≥135/85 mmHg for both ABPM and home BP mornitoring. The pathophysiology of morning hypertension is not completely understood, several regulatory mechanisms are thought to or have been found to play a part. Ischemic stroke and coronary events often occur in the early morning hours. Blood pressure (BP) also usually peaks in the morning. This parallel phenomenon suggests that high BP in the morning may be particularly important for the occurrence of cardiovascular events. the hypothesis that a high morning surge of BP might predict cardio vascular events. Some investigators examined the association between morning surge in BP and subsequent cardiovascular complications, both in hypertensive patients and in general populations, but the results were contradictory. MBPS was associated with a risk of stroke incidence in a selected population. Current ABPM guidelines and several hypertension guidelines highlight the importance of morning BP or morning hypertension. To improve the management of hypertension in general and morning hypertension in particular, long-acting antihypertensive drugs should be used in appropriate, often full dosages and in proper combinations. The clinical usefulness of antihypertensive drugs with specific mechanisms for morning BP or split or timed dosing of long-acting drugs in controlling morning BP remains under investigation.
