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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- If you have high blood pressure, you need to be monitoring the condition at home with a home blood pressure monitor.
Thats the take home message in new guidelines just published by three major medical groups. The American Heart Association, American Society of Hypertension, and Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association have come together to recommend the use of home testing in an effort to ensure more people with high blood pressure meet their goals for treatment. Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to devastating health problems, including heart attack and stroke.
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Many patients fail to reach target levels despite treatment, and studies show home monitoring can help, chair of the statement writing group Thomas G. Pickering, M.D., D.Phil., was quoted as saying. Blood pressure measurement and tracking could be improved with home monitoring by the patients themselves, in much the way people with diabetes monitor their blood sugar levels with home glucose monitors.
Home monitoring is considered especially important in elderly people, who often experience significant swings in blood pressure and are more likely to suffer from white coat blood pressure -- a phenomenon whereby blood pressure spikes in the doctors office. People with diabetes, kidney disease and women who are pregnant are in particular need of the testing as well.
But anyone with high blood pressure should take the time to test at home too, because controlling high blood pressure is considered essential to minimizing the risk for cardiovascular disease.
The guidelines offer the following recommendations for home testing:
Purchase an oscillometric monitor with cuffs that fit on the upper arm. Use a proper fitting cuff, and seek the advice of a healthcare provider on the proper operation of the device.
Do not use wrist monitors.
Take two or three readings at a time, one minute apart, while resting in a seated position. Support the arm, with the upper arm placed at heart level and feet on the floor. Take readings at the same time each day.
The recommendations say people who use a home monitor should try to achieve a reading of less than 135/85 millimeters of mercury. High risk patients should shoot for less than 130/80.
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SOURCE: Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association, Journal of the American Society of Hypertension, and Journal of Clinical Hypertension, published online May 22, 2008. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, June 2008
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
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