How Accurate Are Home Blood Pressure Monitors
But home blood pressure monitors aren’t always as accurate as they should be. “Home blood pressure monitors may be inaccurate in 5% to 15% of patients, depending on the threshold for accuracy used,” according to Dr. Swapnil Hiremath, a kidney specialist at Ottawa Hospital in Canada…. view details
What Your Readings Mean
The top number refers to your systolic pressure, which is the force of the blood against the artery walls as your heart beats. The bottom number is your diastolic pressure, the blood pressure between heartbeats.
If the top number is 130 or more or if the bottom number is 80 or more, you should talk to your doctor, who can determine what lifestyle changes you need to make and if you need to take any medication.
Over time, high blood pressure can lead to complications, says Dr. Distel. It can lead to chronic kidney disease, strokes, heart disease and eye problems.
But with some simple changes like increasing exercise, eating a well-balanced diet, quitting smoking and reducing salt and alcohol, you may be able to lower your blood pressure.
The biggest thing is lifestyle changes, says Dr. Distel. Try to lower your sodium or salt intake in your diet and increase your aerobic activity.
To learn more about hypertension, listen to the Health Essentials Podcast episode Combating High Blood Pressure. New episodes of the Health Essentials Podcast publish every Wednesday.
How To Take & Record Blood Pressure
- Sit with your legs uncrossed, your back supported and your feet on the floor.
- Rest your arm at heart level on a table.
- Measure your blood pressure in both arms the first time you use a monitor.
- Use the arm with the highest reading to take future readings.
- Use a log to record your readings or print the numbers stored in your monitor.
- Always take your log or bring your monitor with stored readings to show your doctor or nurse.
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Factors That Can Affect Your Readings
There are a few general rules to be aware of when it comes to timing your blood pressure reading.
For example, its not a good idea to take your blood pressure immediately after you wake up, as this may not give you the most accurate reading. Instead, aim to check it when youve been up for about half an hour.
Its also best not to wait until after breakfast and your morning coffee since both food and caffeine can raise your blood pressure. Ideally, a morning blood pressure can be taken after you brush your teeth, shower, and get dressed but before you eat or leave for work.
Food and caffeine arent the only things that can cause your blood pressure to spike. There are several other everyday things that can make your blood pressure rise.
No matter what time of day you take your blood pressure, its best to avoid these things for at least half an hour before you take a reading:
- smoking or using tobacco
What Is The Best Position To Take Blood Pressure
During the measurement, sit in a chair with your feet on the floor and your arm supported so that your elbow is at a normal heart rate. The cuff should be placed on bare skin, not over a shirt, and the inflatable part of it should cover 80% of your upper arm. Dont say anything while the measurement is taking place.
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Checking Your Blood Pressure At Home When Is The Best Time And How Often Should You Take It
Youâve made the decision to monitor your blood pressure at home. Congratulations! You have made a huge step toward taking control of your health and taking good care of your heart. Now the question is, what is the best way to do this? When you should check your blood pressure, how often and what affects the results, are all good questions. Here are some answers.
Easy Steps For Cutting Sodium
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Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring
Having a raised blood pressure reading in 1 test does not necessarily mean you have high blood pressure.
Blood pressure can fluctuate throughout the day. Feeling anxious or stressed when you visit your GP can also raise your blood pressure.
If you have a high reading, you may be asked to take some readings with a 24-hour monitor that checks your blood pressure throughout the day.
This will confirm whether you have consistently high blood pressure.
It’s known as 24-hour or ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.
How Often Should You Measure Your Blood Pressure
When and how often you take your readings will depend on your blood pressure. Speak to your doctor or nurse about whats suitable for you.
It can be useful to monitor your blood pressure closely to begin with, then less often but at regular intervals.
When you first start using your home monitor
When you first start using a home monitor, measure your blood pressure in the morning and evening, every day for a week.
Take three readings in the morning, one to two minutes apart, and the same again in the evening, and record all the readings. Take an average of the readings, but discard the first one if its much higher than the others. To take an average simply add the two readings together and divide by two. Divide by three if you use all three readings.
Ignore the first days readings altogether, because they might not be accurate as youre not familiar with your monitor yet.
At the end of the week you will have a useful picture of what your blood pressure is normally like.
Your doctor might ask you to keep a record like this when they first think you might have high blood pressure and would like to know more before making a .
After the first week
Once you have a record of your blood pressure over a week, you can take readings less often once every one to two weeks perhaps. Your doctor or nurse can talk to you about this, theres no need to measure it too often.
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What Helps High Blood Pressure In The Morning
Losing weight, changing your diet, increasing your exercise, and cutting back on alcohol and tobacco use can lower your blood pressure levels. If you have a family history of high blood pressure or heart disease, talk to your doctor about your risk of developing morning hypertension and how to prevent it…. see details
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How Does My Circadian Rhythm Affect My Blood Pressure Medication
Michael Smolensky, adjunct professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Texas, Ausin, reports, â”The body doesn’t respond to medications in the same way at different times of the day. Some drugs are not as effective or as well tolerated if they’re taken at the wrong biological time. It’s not that they’re not effective at all, but they’re certainly much less effective.”Studies on chronotherapy have found that taking high blood pressure medications before bedtime help with the non-dipping issue. This reduces your risk of heart attack and stroke by normalizing your daily blood pressure rhythm. Specifically, it has been reported that drugs called ACE inhibitors and ARBs are the most effective when taken at bedtime.
Slightly Higher Blood Pressure In The Morning Is Normal Because Your Blood Pressure Falls At Night And Needs To Work A Little Harder When You Wake Up A Very Large Increase Should Be Reported To Your Doctor
Let your doctor know if you have a morning blood pressure that is 10 points above your daytime blood pressure.
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If you monitor your blood pressure at home, you may notice that your pressure is usually higher in the early morning. This is normal because your blood pressure has a normal variation that follows your bodys biological clock, also called your circadian rhythm. Blood pressure is higher a few hours before and after waking up. It peaks at about midday, drops in the evening, and is lowest during deep sleep, called your nocturnal blood pressure.
Some people have a higher increase in morning blood pressure, called a morning blood pressure surge . It is known that most strokes, heart attacks, and sudden deaths occur in the early morning, so for several years researchers have been trying to find out if MBPS is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease . The research has not been conclusive, but it seems to suggest that there is a slightly higher risk, especially for stroke, that increases as MBPS increases.
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So You Have High Blood Pressure What Else Could Be Wrong
If you have high blood pressure, get checked for diabetes and high cholesterol. Most people who have high blood pressure also have some of the other risks for heart disease and stroke, such as not getting enough physical activity, having unhealthy eating habits, smoking, being overweight or drinking too much alcohol. Ask your doctor to test your kidney function through a blood and urine test, and through the electrolytes in your blood kidney problems can cause high blood pressure.
When To Take Blood Pressure
- Wait for at least 30 minutes after drinking alcohol or caffeine, smoking or exercise before you take a reading.
- Rest for at least 5 minutes before you take a reading.
- Take your blood pressure twice a day for 7 days. The best time to take your blood pressure is in the morning before taking your medicines, and in the evening. Each reading should be 2 minutes apart.
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Can I Take My Blood Pressure Multiple Times In A Row
It’s ideal to measure your blood pressure twice a day for two weeks leading up to a doctor’s appointment, or following a change in medication. At each sitting, measure your blood pressure three times, but discard the first reading as it tends to be inaccurate. Write down the average of the second and third reading…. continue reading
Why Is My Blood Pressure High In The Morning
High blood pressure is a condition that causes the force of the blood in your body to press against the walls of your blood vessels at too high of a rate. When you get your blood pressure read, it can be deemed as high if the top number reads anything over 129 mm Hg and the lower number reads anything over 79 mm Hg.
The Food and Drug Administration estimates that one in three American adults live with high blood pressure. High blood pressure has been deemed the worlds leading preventable cause of death.
Morning time can be dangerous for people living with high blood pressure. Studies have shown that blood pressure can increase the most in the morning time, which can lead to a higher likelihood of cardiac events.
Follow along to learn about the causes, who is at risk, treatment options, and more.
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What Can Cause A False High Blood Pressure Reading
Acute meal ingestion, caffeine or nicotine use can all negatively affect BP readings, leading to errors in measurement accuracy. If the patient has a full bladder, that can lead to an error in systolic BP of between 4 mm Hg and 33 mm Hg, compared with the white-coat effect can have an error of up to 26 mm Hg…. read more
Treatment Options For Morning Hypertension
There are various treatment options available for high blood pressure in the morning.
Some of these methods include the following:
- Long-acting blood pressure medication: can control blood pressure longer than 24 hours to keep blood pressure rate at a healthy level.
- Taking the maximum or full dose of blood pressure medications.
- Combination therapy: taking more than one blood pressure medication to increase the efficiency of the drug.
Always consult with your doctor about which treatment options may be right for you when treating high blood pressure in the morning. Collaborating with your doctor to create a medication treatment plan can be beneficial in managing blood pressure levels before they become a risk to your health.
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What Should I Do If My Blood Pressure Is 160 Over 100
Your doctor If your blood pressure is higher than 160/100 mmHg, then three visits are enough. If your blood pressure is higher than 140/90 mmHg, then five visits are needed before a diagnosis can be made. If either your systolic or diastolic blood pressure stays high, then the diagnosis of hypertension can be made.
When Is The Best Time To Measure Blood Pressure
If you are concerned about or have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, you should measure your blood pressure at several different times of day to identify patterns.
If your blood pressure tends to be higher in the morning, you should talk to your doctor, because this is abnormal.
Abnormal blood pressure patterns can indicate certain causes of hypertension or other cardiovascular risk factors.
Abnormal blood pressure patterns can be detected by taking blood pressure readings at different times of the day, including:
- First thing in the morning
Keep in mind that exercise, caffeine, and stress can lead to short-term increases in blood pressure.
When you take a reading, try to be as calm and still as possible, with your arms and legs uncrossed.
Avoid checking your blood pressure immediately after exercise or if you have just experienced a very stressful event.
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At Home With A Monitor
Home monitoring can be a great way to keep track of your blood pressure on a daily basis.
With home monitoring, you can check your blood pressure throughout the day and at times that are convenient for you. It can help you see how your blood pressure changes throughout the day and help you get a sense of your average blood pressure range.
However, youll need to purchase a blood pressure monitor to do this. Youll also need to learn how to use it and how to record accurate readings.
Its not complicated to learn the basics of many home monitors, but it can still be easy to make a mistake.
Best Time To Take Blood Pressure
Taking blood pressure is important part of routine medical checkups because the high blood pressure can be an indication of the health problems of the future, like heart attack , stroke, kidney disease, dementia, etc. So, checking blood pressure is important, especially when you have been asked to do so by your physician. So, how to check your BP at home? And what’s the best time to take blood pressure? These questions and other queries related to blood pressure will be answered in this article.
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What Are The Causes Of High Blood Pressure In The Morning
Anyone can develop high blood pressure and, for some people, there may not be a clear cause. It may develop over time and could be due to an increased genetic risk. For others, high blood pressure may result from an underlying medical condition. That might include:
If your doctor does discover that you have high blood pressure, they’ll try to determine if there is an underlying medical condition causing it. If there is not, which is often the case, they will talk to you about the options for managing your blood pressure to lower your risk of complications.
Tips For Achieving A Healthy Blood Pressure
High blood pressure can increase your risk of serious conditions like heart attacks and strokes. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to lower your blood pressure, including:
- Follow a heart-healthy diet that is high in vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins.
- Avoid added sugars, saturated fats, and high-sodium foods.
- Get plenty of exercise.
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You And Your Medicines
Important information about your medicines:
- Know the name of each medicine you take.
- Carry a list of medicines with you.
- Know how and when to take each medicine.
- Know what side effects to report to your doctor or nurse.
- Tell your doctor or nurse about all of the vitamins, herbs, supplements and pills you take.
- Never stop taking a medicine without calling your doctor or nurse.