Blood pressure was measured with a mercury sphygmomanometer. Measurements were taken in the morning, after a light breakfast, and after a 5-min quiet resting period, with subjects in the seated position. The SBP and DBP used here are the average of the second and third measurements from the right arm. Pulse pressure (PP) was calculated as (PP = SBP − DBP) and mean blood pressure (MBP) as (MBP = DBP + PP/3). Standard 12-lead electrocardiography was performed on all participants, from which the PR interval and the QT interval corrected for heart rate (QTC) were measured.
