Human speech and blood pressure.

The recent development of a noninvasive automated blood pressure device has revealed a strong relationship between human conversation and blood pressure. Conventional techniques of pressure measurement such as the stethoscope and manometer, which require silence during the measurement, tended to obscure this important relationship. Findings from this study indicate that interpersonal communications surrounding the measurement of blood pressure can rapidly alter systolic and diastolic pressures. In certain situations, changes greater than 20 per cent in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate can occur within 30 seconds after the initiation of human speech. Such variance can be of critical significance in making clinical judgments concerning hypertension. These findings are discussed in the context of recent nonpharmacological treatment approaches being developed to help control hypertension.