Why Is Home Blood Pressure Measurement Valuable?
- High blood pressure has no symptoms -
- You need to measure your blood pressure to know whether your pressure is high -
Detection of gradual or rapid changes
If you measure your blood pressure routinely, you will be able to detect any gradual changes in your blood pressure. This is important if you have blood pressure that is above normal, or if you are, or even think you might be, at risk for high blood pressure.
If you find your blood pressure is slowly increasing you can seek treatment and make lifestyle changes, and reduce your blood pressure before it gets too high and starts to cause damage to the body.
If there is a sudden change in your blood pressure, which is not just one reading but persists over several readings you can get evaluated immediately.
White coat hypertension
The majority of people, when at the doctors office or other healthcare setting, seem to get at least some level of “white coat hypertension”. This is increased blood pressure in a medical setting, at the time that blood pressure is measured. This increase is not going to make normal blood pressure go sky high (e.g. not from 120/80 to 200/100) but can, for instance, move your status from normal to prehypertensive. Some researchers estimate that white coat hypertension under some circumstances may account for up to 25% of diagnoses of high blood pressure. The result of this is that in some cases high blood pressure medication is prescribed to persons who do not need it.
You need to know what your real blood pressure is, not what it is when it you are in a healthcare setting.
A number of studies have compared taking blood pressure measurement in a physicians office or at home either using a digital blood pressure monitor or an ambulatory blood pressure measurement (wearing a device that measures at intervals throughout the day and night; see the discussion of types of monitors). It was found that measurement of blood pressure at home, either using a digital blood pressure monitor or wearing an ambulatory monitor, was a better predictor of heart and other problems, than readings taken in a doctors office.
Blood pressure changes as daily life varies – know your resting normal pressure
Depending on what you are doing, the position of your body, stress level and other factors your blood pressure will vary. See factors that affect blood pressure. What you need to know is what is your usual daytime blood pressure actually is. Home measurement of blood pressure allows you make multiple measurements of your pressure at different times of a day, and different days to determine your normal range of blood pressure. It is useful to know if the time of day affects your blood pressure. For instance some people have a blood pressure surge first thing in the morning. It is a good idea to mention to your healthcare provider any daily trends. Here are guidelines for measuring resting blood pressure.
When taking medications that may increase blood pressure
Increasing blood pressure is a possible side effect of some medications such as MAOIs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors). If you discover a medication does increase your blood pressure, then you can, in consultation with your healthcare provider, either change the medication or take measures to lower your blood pressure.
To determine the effectiveness of high blood pressure medications
When medications have been prescribed for high blood pressure, how well blood pressure has been lowered can be determined. You can determine when any drop in blood pressure is stable and the size of the decrease. If blood pressure is not lowered sufficiently, then you can see you healthcare provider in a timely fashion and discuss your options.
Pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia.
In up to 10% of pregnant women, blood pressure increases after about 20 weeks of the pregnancy. In the majority of cases the increase in blood pressure remains only slightly elevated and does not become a problem. However, in some women, blood pressure can continue to increase to high levels that can result in damage to the fetus, both by a reduced supply of oxygen and the potential for early separation of the placenta from the wall of the uterus. This increased blood pressure is known as preeclampsia, which if not controlled in severe cases may result in the death of the fetus and/or the mother. The mother can get life-threatening seizures, which are known as eclampsia. For this reason blood pressure should be monitored frequently during pregnancy.