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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A person's blood pressure normally drops during the night, but his or her socioeconomic status in childhood appears to influence how readily this occurs in adulthood, new Canadian research shows.
"These findings suggest that irrespective of adult achievement, childhood socioeconomic status may have lasting health implications," Dr. Tavis S. Campbell of the University of Calgary in Alberta and colleagues write in the medical journal Psychosomatic Medicine.
Nocturnal drops, or "dips," in blood pressure of 10 percent to 15 percent are normal, and people who don't experience these nighttime blood pressure drops are at increased risk of heart disease and stroke. There is some evidence, Campbell and his team note, that blood pressure dipping may be related to socioeconomic status.
To investigate the relationship further, the researchers monitored blood pressure around the clock in 174 undergraduate students.
The lower a study participant's childhood socioeconomic status as rated by the highest level of education achieved by their parents, the investigators found, the less their blood pressure dropped at night.
On the other hand, study participants' current socioeconomic status, gauged by where they placed themselves on a nine-step "status ladder" relative to other Canadians, wasn't related to blood pressure dipping.
Socioeconomic status in childhood independently contributed to blood pressure dipping even after taking into account body mass index, smoking, and other relevant factors.
There are a number of ways by which early socioeconomic status could influence future heart disease risk, Campbell and colleagues say, including low birth weight, poor nutrition, and psychosocial factors such as stress.
They conclude: "Our findings highlight the importance of addressing childhood adversity and suggest one potential mechanism -- BP dipping -- of increased risk."
SOURCE: Psychosomatic Medicine, April 2008.
