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Blood Presure Monitors
Medical professionals recommend checking
your blood pressure at least
annually and
more often if you have related
medical problems.
Accurately measuring your blood
pressure
is best done by a qualified medical
professional,
but with proper equipment, you
can check
it yourself at home as often
as you want.
More frequent checks may help
your doctor
diagnose emerging medical problems
(especially
cardiac-related).
What your blood pressure (BP)
means
The heart uses pressure to pump
blood through
the arteries and veins of your
body. The
amount of pressure in your veins
is measured
at two points:
- when your heart is pumping (called the systolic
pressure), and
- when your heart is at rest (called the diastolic
pressure).
A number is assigned that represents
the
systolic (pumping) over the diastolic
pressure
(resting) pressure (for example,
120/80).
When your BP is out of range
Generally,blood pressure increases
with age
(your doctor can tell you what
your normal
BP range should be). Doctors
also look at
the range of numbers in your
BP and whether
and how fast it is changing.
For instance,
if a person's BP should be 120/80
and it
is 190/100, he is experiencing
high blood
pressure. If it is only 80/50,
it is considered
low. Furthermore, the lower number
(diastolic)
can be more telling than the
upper one (systolic).
Systolic pressure rises when
a person is
excited or exercising, but the
lower number
(diastolic) should be largely
unaffected
because it represents the amount
of pressure
when the heart is idle. High
diastolic pressure
could lead to a stroke or heart
attack. After
adjusting for external factors,
your blood
pressure should be reasonably
constant.
Taking your BP at home
The best way to read your blood
pressure
is to have it done by a medical
professional
with a sphygmomanometer (the
real name of
a BP cuff that wraps around your
upper arm
and a stethoscope for listening
for a heartbeat
below the cuff). Using a sphygmomanometer
on oneself is nearly impossible
to do correctly,
though some "D-ring"
models are
designed for exactly that.
The better alternative, if you
want to take
your BP alone, is to buy an automated
BP
cuff. These automated cuffs have
a pump that
inflates the cuff with air, automatically
deflates the cuff as it measures
your BP,
and then displays the results
on a large
readout. Two nice features of
automatic cuffs:
many can store a history of your
readings
to show a trend and can also
tell you your
heart rate (pulse). Automatic
BP cuffs can
give reasonably accurate readings,
but there
are some cautions. Certain medical
conditions
can cause inaccurate readings
(ask your doctor)
and the automatic BP cuffs should
be checked
against a real sphygmomanometer
for accuracy
at least annually.
Finally, it is important that
your BP cuff
be sized right for your arm.
If your arm
size is too slim or large, the
cuff won't
read correctly or even at all.
Some elderly
people may find a child's cuff
fits better
than the normal adult cuff. |
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