what do you think about the d.i.y. home testing blood pressure kits??

i would be interested in your thoughts. my husband has just been told that he has high-ish blood pressure.

The Arm measuring kit manufactured by OMRON is accurate. My doctor recommends this one. Regardless of which on you have, read below it might help.

It would be interesting to know the exact measurements but he should aim for 120/80 which is normal (115/75 optimal).

The process and preparation for measurement is critical. If he is a creature of habit, then measure at the same time each day. Morning is usually lower.

Do NOT drink Tea or coffee two hours before the measurement. (he should limit his intake of these anyway, or switch to green tea).

Get him to sit down for 5 minutes first. Our blood vessels constrict when we stand. I get a 5-10 point drop if I measure after 10 minutes sitting down.

A good test of is take a measurement after 5 minutes and wait another 10 minutes and take it again. Work out the average of the measurements, and that’s your BP.

As one of our learned yahoo colleagues mentioned, it will vary throughout the day and one very high measurement is nothing to be too alarmed about.

If the doctor didn’t advise medication he is comfortable that it can be controlled and there are numerous natural ways to reduce BP which he might have mentioned. The reason I say this is because of a popular term called “white coat hypertension”.This is based on the theory that people quietly panic at BP tests and the BP shoots up 10 points…this could apply for home tests too but not to the same extent.

I have measured mine at home for three years beginning with the wrist monitor which showed huge variations but was sometimes accurate (compared with the GP tests). For the last two years I have used the arm type and so far so good.

PS. You blood pressure can rise with too much alcohol and stay high for the next day.

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