� Your blood pressure changes from hour to hour, sometimes minute to minute. Standing up from a hot seat, watching an exciting bear witness, eating a meal, or being stressed-perhaps because of a visit to the doctor-all influence your parentage pressure. Blood pressure readings jump around so much that you are more than likely to get an accurate reading if you check it at home rather than in the doctor's situation, reports the September 2008 issue of the Harvard Heart Letter.
The idea underlies a new recommendation from the American Heart Association urgency individuals with high blood pressure or at high risk for developing it to become do-it-yourselfers, for a turn of reasons:
Find your real blood pressure: In some individuals, the doctor's office snapshot tells the whole story and is an excellent approximation of their usual pressure. In others, it isn't.
Track your progress: Checking your blood press at home lets you know whether your life style changes and medications ar having their desired personal effects.
Save time and medications: Home measure may miserly fewer trips to the doctor's office. If you have "white-coat" hypertension-a climb in rip pressure when you go to the doctor-it whitethorn also mean taking fewer medications.
Watch the video
If you prefer to metre your blood pressure at home, technique matters. A free instructional video from Harvard Health Publications, on-line at hypertext transfer protocol://www.wellness.harvard.edu/128, shows Harvard Heart Letter editor Patrick J. Skerrett demonstrating the right fashion to take a blood pressure reading at home. This web page likewise offers tips for choosing a home blood press monitor.
Also in this issue:
- Aches and pains from statins
- Removing faulty pacemaker wires
- Mediterranean diet wards off pith disease
- Chest pain (angina) common after heart attacks
- Heart disease a leading killer among people with HIV/AIDS
- Is there a connection betwixt statins, muscle pain, and coenzyme Q10?
The Harvard Heart Letter is available from Harvard Health Publications, the publication division of Harvard Medical School, for $24 per year. Subscribe at hTTP://www.health.harvard.edu/heart.
American Heart Association
More info
