Why Home Blood Pressure Monitoring Can Be Critical to Your Health
As our understanding and treatment of high blood pressure (BP), or hypertension, becomes more sophisticated, healthcare professionals are more apt to recommend home monitoring of this disease. The reasons for this are numerous and essentially stem from the fact that valuable information can be obtained from in-home measurements that simply cannot be obtained in the doctor's office. By advising home monitoring of BP, your doctor is able to ascertain a more complete and clearer picture of your overall health. This, in turn, allows him or her to better understand and treat your hypertension. A good example of this would be to see how you are responding to certain medications.
There are also certain types of hypertension that can be either diagnosed or ruled out based solely on measurements taken at home. The first is what is referred to as white-coat hypertension. As the name implies, this describes a patient who experiences higher readings in the doctor's office than at home. Most likely this is due to the added stress of being in an exam room setting. The second is masked hypertension where BP readings are higher at home than at the doctor's office. Lastly and perhaps most significantly, is morning hypertension. Morning hypertension, as the name implies, is elevated readings within 1 to 2 hours of waking. The significance of morning hypertension is the fact that studies have linked this with increased risk of stroke. Studies have also shown that morning hypertension goes undiagnosed and therefore untreated in as much as 50% of patients receiving treatment for high blood pressure; it can also increase the risk of stroke threefold in elderly patients.
Given the facts surrounding morning hypertension, it is no wonder physicians are recommending monitoring blood pressure at home. Regardless of the cause of elevated blood pressure in the morning, typically by the time patients go see their doctor, their BP often decreases, making the diagnoses of this condition impossible. Monitoring blood pressure in-home can have tremendous benefits. Monitoring at home yields more reliable measurements since you will usually be in a more relaxed state in this environment. Additionally, you are able to take as many readings throughout the day. By keeping a log of these readings over time, your doctor may be better able to treat your high blood pressure. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, morning hypertension, which can be potentially life-threatening, can only be diagnosed by taking measurements shortly after awakening. This effectively can only be done by monitoring your blood pressure in your home.
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น