Blood Pressure Home Monitoring Center

Welcome to our Home Monitoring Center! On this page we provide links to information on blood pressure and home monitoring. The links go to other sites. The links are my favorites. Wishing you good heart health! Kellie Helen

Blood pressure and hypertension

Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against your artery walls. The pressure is highest when your heart beats (systolic) and lower when your heart rests (diastolic).

• Summary: High Blood Pressure fact sheet --- a quick one page summary of what blood pressure is, what is considered high, and how to manage it.
• Article: Recent changes in what is considered good blood pressure --- Dr. Floyd kindly contributed this article to our newsletter. If you think blood pressure is just something your doctor worries about, this article is for you!
• Article: What is pulse pressure and is it important? --- This article explains pulse pressure and answers your pulse pressure questions.
• Website: The Heart Center Online --- lots of information about high and low blood pressure. Includes articles, quizzes, news and animations.
• Website: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's high blood pressure page. --- a great online resource for info about blood pressure.
• Animations: Invision guide to a healthy heart --- amazing 3D images which have been created from actual patients. Shows the damaging effects of high BP and heart attacks. (Requires "Flash" and can be a bit confusing at times, but worth persisting with).

White coat hypertension

Many people experience white coat hypertension, (high blood pressure readings when taken by your Doctor) and this is one of the main reasons why home monitoring is useful.

• Summary: White Coat Hypertension FAQ --- questions and answers about white coat hypertension.
• Article: A personal account of "white coats" --- by my brother Steve, who suffers from white coat hypertension, describing why a blood pressure reading taken by his Doctor is not normal for him.
• Study: Journal of The American College of Cardiology --- Home blood pressure monitoring eliminates the white coat effect and allows identification of patients with white coat hypertension.
• Study: The Journal of The American Medical Association --- Our findings suggest that home BP measurement has a better prognostic accuracy than office BP measurement. Blood pressure should systematically be measured at home in patients receiving treatment for hypertension.

Home monitoring of blood pressure

What you need, What to do before taking a reading, How to take readings, and Tracking your readings!

• Summary: Monitor Your Blood Pressure at Home --- a quick one page summary; What you need, What to do before taking a reading, How to take readings, and Tracking your readings.
• Article: Why Home Monitoring of Blood Pressure is Important --- a background article explaining why home monitoring is helpful.
• Article: How I monitor my blood pressure --- by my brother on his experiences home monitoring his blood pressure.
• Website: dabl Educational Trust --- this site has a wealth of information about blood pressure monitors. I see that the monitor that Steve uses; "Omron M4" is given a "questionable" rating. If you are looking to buy a monitor, these pages are worth a read.

Home monitoring can help your blood pressure

Some interesting research has shown home monitoring and tracking of blood pressure can actually improve blood pressure levels.

• Study: The British Medical Journal --- Blood pressure control in people with hypertension and the proportion achieving targets are increased when home blood pressure monitoring is used.
• Study: The British Medical Journal --- Monitoring blood pressure at home improves control of hypertension.

Home monitoring in the news

Recent news reports that show the benefits of home monitoring.

• Source: AMNews; Newspaper for America's Physicians. 11th June 2007. A study published in the American Medical Association newspaper reported that blood pressure readings taken in a doctors office are often unreliable.
• Source: Reuters. 7th June 2007. Researched published in the American Journal of Hypertension showed home blood pressure monitoring is a better indicator of tracking heart risk than measurements taken in the doctors office.

Real accounts from people who monitor their BP

Many people are now monitoring their blood pressure from home ... some for a month or two, some for the rest of their lives. Find out why in their own words.

• Index: Newsletter Stories --- an index of over 12 stories originally published in our newsletter. Below is a selection.
  • Story: My high blood pressure --- My brother Steve's story ... his high readings were believed to be due to the white coat effect. A trip to hospital proved that wrong.
  • Story: Home monitoring leads to drastic changes in medications --- Ron tells how his records of home monitor readings alerted his doctor that something was wrong.
  • Story: Home monitoring shows a trend --- John has seen the downside of hypertension and was quick to spot his own.

Living with high blood pressure

• Website: MedicineNet.com --- this is a nice page which describes the categories of blood pressure medications and various specific drugs. (Includes detailed descriptions of ACE inhibitors, beta blockers and calcium channel blockers)
• Website: NHLBI's high blood pressure prevention page --- healthy eating plans, and other lifestyle tips for preventing high blood pressure.