High Blood Pressure - Home Checks

High blood pressure, also called hypertension affects 1 in 3 adults. Stay 120/80! Know your numbers.

For more accurate measures of your blood pressure and what affects it consider home blood pressure monitoring. Buy a blood pressure monitor for home use. Wrist and arm monitors are available at Amazon, Target, Walgreen's, CVS, Wal-Mart, and local medical supply stores. Shop on line by doing a search for "blood pressure monitor". One of the top finds is for those made by Omron, and of course, the store brands.

Record your blood pressure readings daily starting with morning, midday, and night. Make a note of your activity and how you are feeling. You may notice that extreme anxiety makes it go up, or that your head hurts. The correlation to your pressure will help you manage your symptoms.

If your blood pressure is borderline at 140/90, you want to start a low salt diet. The best is the DASH diet (http://bit.ly/hnbsL). Exercise, weight control, and stress reduction are other things to include in your treatment plan. For higher blood pressure readings over 140/90, medication may be necessary. Take your home blood pressure results in to your doctor. This will help in deciding on the best treatment for you.

Share your results with your doctor so medication and lifestyle changes can be made if necessary. You may find that while your blood pressure is high in the doctor's office, it may be normal in everyday activity. Remember, the doctor's result is a one time reading every few months. With normal home results, and high results at your doctor visits you may have "white coat" hypertension. There is much controversy over whether this should be treated. Check with your cardiologist.

American Heart Association http://hearthub.org/ for your cardiovascular concerns.


by J.L. Richardson, MD, author of the award winning Patient Handbook to Medical Care.

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