Individualized time series-based assessment of melatonin effects on blood pressure: Model for pediatricians

A patient treated for essential hypertension monitored her blood pressure and heart rate during an 11-day span. During the first 5 days of monitoring, one 24-hour span was perfectly acceptable; the others showed circadian hyper-amplitude-tension, CHAT, either systolic or diastolic or both. The case demonstrates, in the context of assessing the blood pressure lowering effects of melatonin and losartan potassium, the indispensability of dealing with blood pressure on an individualized time series basis at any age. We here quantify and reinterpret melatonin effects on the chronome (time structure) of blood pressure. Whenever possible, in practice, effects upon a variable's chronome must be interpreted first on an individualized basis before summarizing the results for the population.