The Variations in Blood Pressure Values in Deadsea and Sea Level in Jordan are not Influenced by the Level of Angiotensin Ii

Abstract

Introduction: hypertension may be affected by environment. The variation of altitudes has been reported to play a role in hypertension. In Jordan, we have an environment rich in diversity as having areas in the sea level and others in the lowest depth in the world (the Dead Sea). Objectives: to examine the impact of altitudes on the level of angioten II among study participants. Methods and subjects: across sectional design was conducted. Two areas were included: the Dead Sea and the Sea level area, Jordan. The study sample included a total of 1000 participants of them 500 participants were included from each area. All participants were males, matched for age grouping, and they were apparently healthy. A working paper was made for each participant which included study variables such as blood pressure, weight, height, waist circumference, heart rate per minute, the level of angiotensin II, and packed cell volume (PCV). We analyzed data using SPSS version 20. All data were included and represented as mean and standard deviation. The relations between variables were computed using independent T test. Significance was considered at alpha <0.05. Study findings: there were no statistical differences between study groups for all variables except systolic blood pressure which its mean was 122.42±10.53 mmHg in the area of Dead Sea and this was significantly higher than that of the Sea level (118.07±11.64) (p=0.001). The mean of blood pressure in the Dead Sea was 91.64 ± 8.90 mmHg, and this was significantly higher than that of the Sea level (89.84 ± 8.72) (p=0.001). The level of angiotensin II was 8.48±4.65pg/ml in the Dead Sea area, and this was less than that of the Sea level (11.21± 6.05pg/ml). The difference in means for angiotensin II was not statistically significant. Conclusion: the altitude differences in the study area affected, but not significantly, the level of angiotensin II and significantly the level of systolic blood pressure.