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Home Blood Pressure Monitors Make Common Sense

Source: Times On Line
Under pressure

Our Summary

This is an interesting article which reinforces the importance of monitoring blood pressure at home.

"There was uproar among friends of a relative of mine when she announced that she was going to buy a home blood-pressure monitor. They all thought that it was a sign of hypochondria, rather than of common sense." writes Dr. Thomas Stuttaford.

Dr. Thomas Stuttaford also says: "With a home blood-pressure monitor it is easy for someone to take his own blood pressure at different times of the day and on different days of the week. Only by doing this is it possible to get a picture of someone’s true blood pressure record"

This article is close to home for me. My brother; Steve, should have been monitoring his blood pressure years ago. Somehow he slipped through the net and his higher than normal readings at doctor's visits were diagnosed as "White coat syndrome". If he had been monitoring his blood pressure at home (like he does now), it would have been clear that he really did have hypertension. Fortunately, he was lucky, but his blood pressure was high enough that he could have easily have not been so lucky.

Related

• Other articles by Dr. Thomas Stuttaford.
• Article: How I monitor my blood pressure

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