Some lessons learned from a 43-year record of self- measurements by a physician-scientist

The study participant, a pathologist and scientist-chronobiologist self-measured systolic (S) and diastolic (D) blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR) and oral temperature (Tb) for 43 years, spanning from 1965 to 2013 and from 38 to 86 years of age, with some times of no data collection, the longest between 1966 and 1971. The number of samples varied mostly between 4 and 12 samples per day. Mean arterial pressure (MAP), pulse pressure (PP), and pulse pressure product (PPP) were calculated from SBP, DBP, and HR. In the spring of 1973, he was diagnosed with Essential Hypertension (EH) and was started on anti-hypertensive medication(s). His intention for collecting these data was originally to look at changes during intercontinental flights and later became to monitor his treatment of EH. It was of interest to evaluate the circannual variation in these variables, to look for changes over time and changes in response to efficacy of the medications for the control of his EH.