Prevalence of and risk factors for postprandial hypotension in older Chinese men

Objective To assess the prevalence of and risk factors for postprandial hypotension （PPH） among old and very old Chinese men. Methods The study included 349 Chinese men aged 65 and older, grouped into two age categories： group 1 （old） included 163 men aged 65 to 80 years; group 2 （very old） included 186 men aged over 80 years. Blood pressure changes after meals were assessed every 15 min by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Symptoms after meal ingestion and after standing up and changes in the baseline condition relative to blood pressure changes were observed continuously. Additional baseline data included body mass index, medical history, and medication use Results The prevalence of PPH was 59.3% overall and was significantly higher in group 2 than group 1 （63.4% vs. 54.6%, P 〈 0.05）. In group 2, the prevalence of PPH after breakfast （33.8%） and lunch （32.1%） were higher than that after supper （20.9%）, P 〈 0.05. Hypertension and age were significant risk factors for PPH （OR = 2.188, 95% CI： 1.134-4.223, P = 0.02; OR = 1.86, 95% CI： 1.112-3.11, P = 0.018, respectively）. In contrast, acarbose use was protective against PPH （OR = 0.4, 95% CI： 0.189-0.847, P = 0.017）. The decrease in blood pres- sure during PPH was 20-40 mmHg and the maximum was 90 mmHg. PPH usually occurred at 30-60 min after a meal and lasted 30-120 rnin. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that the prevalence of PPH in men aged over 80 years is significantly higher than those in men aged 65 to 80 years, and the blood pressure decline is also higher for men aged over 80 years. In addition, hypertension and age were main risk factors for PPH in the older men, which suggest that preventing and treating PPH is worthwhile.

Efficacy and safety of acarbose in the treatment of elderly patients with postprandial hypotension

Background Postprandial hypotension （PPH） occurs frequently in elderly people and may lead to syncope, falls, dizziness, weakness, angina pectoris, and stroke. Some studies suggest that the magnitude of the postprandial fall in blood pressure （BP） is influenced by the rate at which glucose enters the small intestine. We hypothesized that acarbose （α-glucosidase inhibitor）, a hypoglycemic agent that decreases the rate of glucose absorption in the small intestine, would attenuate PPH in the elderly, and would be safe in the treatment. Methods Forty-three elderly in-patients with PPH were recruited. All of them were in relatively stable conditions. They had semi-liquid standard meals without and with acarbose for the two following days： screening day and intervention day. Blood pressure and heart rate （HR） were recorded at baseline and every 15 minutes for 120 minutes using a non-invasive ambulatory blood pressure monitoring system during the study, and ejection fraction （EF） and fractional shortening （FS） were measured by two dimensional echocardiography. Results Compared with the screening day, the falls in systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure （SBP, DBP, MAP） （all P 〈0.05） were significantly attenuated after taking acarbose during breakfast, so were MAP （P 〈0.05） during lunch, DBP （P 〈0.05） and MAP （P 〈0.05） during supper. The change of HR was not statistically significant after taking acarbose in three meals. EF and FS were positively correlated with the relief rate. The effective power was 63%, and the incidence of adverse drug reaction （ADR） was 9%. Conclusion Acarbose is effective and safe in the treatment of elderly patients with PPH.