Blood Pressure - Know the risk and check at home
What is your blood pressure today – Yes, what is it right now? Well you don’t know, how could you… unless you measured it today or let’s say within the last 7-10 days.
This is really important: you can only know if you are in trouble if you measure your blood pressure [BP] and find it raised. This is why they call BP ‘the silent killer’. In other words, you get life threatening illness that could have been prevented if only you knew your BP was dangerously raised.
In one recent US study of 7328 individuals 54% had BP above the safe zone, half of those were completely unaware of their problem [1].
Actually 8/10 of the hypertensives had ‘uncontrolled’ BP ie a level that is seriously damaging. Looking at those 8 - there were 5 out of 10 uncontrolled because they didn’t check their BP and had no idea they were ill and 3 out of 10 because they were inadequately treated or not taking their meds.
Most were in the 50+ range and that is my focus, but 12.5% were under 44 so have your adult children get their pressure checked regularly, too, say once a year.
Why do you need to know?
What should you do?
- Get an automated upper arm [not wrist] BP measuring device from Amazon, your Supermarket or Pharmacy
- If you are a plus size lady or an iron pumper with big biceps get a large cuff because too small a cuff underestimates your pressure. [more on this in the next post]
- Start testing – I recommend over 50’s test yourself on the first day of every month. If you are below 50 an annual check is OK but start at 20 for the reason above.
- Tell your friends and family.
A home blood pressure [BP] measuring device is as essential a piece of home equipment as a microwave, fridge or shower.
Don’t aim for ‘Normal’ - aim for “Safe’
Ten years ago a BP of 140/90 in a 60 year old would have been seen as ‘relatively normal’ or ‘on the threshold for treatment’. This is because ‘Normal’ is usually some sort of variation on the ‘average’ in a large population. But many people in the population are not running an ideal BP. A BP of 140/90 has bad outcomes eventually and keeping BP below 120/80 reduces the risk 3,4
We no longer accept increasing BP with age as inevitable or normalIf you are keeping BP in the young adult range, we do better to think of a safe zone and an unsafe zone [ie treatment zone].
This answers the question, “Is my BP low enough to really minimise long term consequences or is it raised enough to begin some disease changes and need treatment?”
A ‘safe’ or ‘ideal’ level is when both BP figures are below 120/80 and an ‘unsafe’ level meaning a level worth reducing to lower long term risk, is where one or both figures are above 120/80
To clarify: 118/70 is safe 126/70 is unsafe 118/86 is unsafe.
BP in pictures
Summary - take home messages
- Measure your BP at home once a month.
- Aim to have a young person’s BP to minimise health risks.
- A ‘safe ‘ BP lowers your risk of heart attack, stroke, dementia and kidney failure.
- Tell your friends.
Next Post
References
[2] Sep 19. First WHO report details devastating impact of hypertension and ways to stop it. Accessed December 1, 2024. https://www.paho.org/en/news/19-9-2023-first-who-report-details-devastating-impact-hypertension-and-ways-stop-it
[3] SPRINT Research Group, Wright JT Jr, Williamson JD, et al. A randomized trial of intensive versus standard blood-pressure control. N Engl J Med. 2015;373(22):2103-2116.
[4] Zhang W, Zhang S, Deng Y, et al. Trial of intensive blood-pressure control in older patients with hypertension. N Engl J Med. 2021;385(14):1268-1279.
No comments:
Post a Comment