Have you ever sat in a doctor’s surgery and the doctor said, “Why don’t we check your blood pressure?” I know at this point my anxiety peaks, and the doctor ends up taking it a few times, followed by that’s interesting”. The interesting bit is that the doc cannot seem to get a consistent reading. Back to the anxiety, where my worries about the result actually affect the result.
Health guidelines recommend getting your blood pressure checked every two years if you are healthy and under 45 years of age. Over 45s should get checked annually, and if you are a smoker or have a family history of heart disease, every six months.
If your doctor is concerned, or if you cannot obtain an accurate reading in their office, you should take readings twice daily at home for a week. If you do have a blood pressure issue, you should monitor it once or twice a week ongoing.
The measurement of blood pressure is a barometer of your heart’s workload and the condition of your blood vessels. The results are measured with two numbers. The first, or top, number is the pressure your heart pumps to push blood through your veins. The second or lower number is the pressure between heartbeats when the pressure subsides.
A normal result is less than both 120 over 80. An elevated result is 120-129 over 80, and a bad result is 130 over 80 or higher.
Measuring your blood pressure at home
Back to the false readings at the doctor. The recommendation is to take some home readings over a week and go back and see your doctor. Unfortunately, the best way to do this is to buy a blood pressure monitor or borrow one from a friend. The good news is you can buy a monitor at a chemist or your local Harvey Norman or JB Hi-Fi. Prices start around $50, so hiring is not really worth it.
I have been testing the Beurer Blood Pressure Monitor BM 64, a Bluetooth monitor that syncs with your smartphone and stores your results in the cloud. The BM 64 retails for around $150.
A cheaper model will let you record your pressure, but I really like having a Bluetooth-connected monitor that syncs with both Apple Health and Google Fit to give you a long-term health record. This record is something your doctor will be very happy to read, as it spares them the need to guess on a single result in the surgery.
Just a quick note, I like that Beurer has been around for more than 100 years, developing products in the well-being and healthcare space, and not just pumping out a product because it is the latest trend.
If the smartphone connection is beyond you, the BM 64 will record the last 120 results, so you could always take it along to your doctor.
Is the Beurer BM 64 easy to use?
Although not completely idiot-proof, you will get feedback on the display if you have an issue with an individual reading. This could be caused by not relaxing during a reading or incorrect fitment of the sleeve.
To operate, place the cuff firmly on your arm above your elbow with the Velcro strap, then press the centre button to activate, and press it again to start the measurement. After about a minute, a reading appears, is automatically uploaded to your smartphone, and is displayed on the screen. Don’t worry if you don’t understand what the numbers mean, as a multicoloured chart on the side indicates your pressure health. Green through yellow to orange, with red being bad.
Beyond measuring your blood pressure, the monitor will also measure your pulse and any arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms), with this information also stored and sent to the cloud.
It’s good to know that more gadgets are available to help with our everyday health and diagnosis.
The post Beurer’s smart blood pressure monitor helped me with GP anxiety appeared first on GadgetGuy.
0 comments:
Post a Comment