On Sat, 28 Jul 2012 21:44:44 -0700, "Steve B"
wrote:


My wife has been harping on me to buy her a blood pressure cuff.
Personally, I'm not sure what she plans on doing with it.
I don't know anything about them.
Anyone here have experience with home blood pressure testing?
Any recommendations?

Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a condition that is very prevalent
among the population. It can cause all sorts of things that can kill you.
It is one of the least monitored medical things in society. We only seem to
have our blood pressure taken when we make that regular trip to the doctor
every three years.

Let me say that I speak from the experience of twenty years of cardiac
history. I had a 5 way bypass, and an aortic valve replacement. I've had
my BP checked by a medical person, and by myself at least one million times.

I have a little experience on this subject.

Get a GOOD automatic cuff, about $50, but more like $35 on sale. Amron is a
good brand, or any of the three most popular ones at your pharmacy.

High blood pressure can be treated with lots of things, some of them as
simple as an adjustment in diet, like cutting down on salt. After that, the
medications for blood pressure are cheap, and I mean generic $3 cheap.
Lisinopril is the most commonly prescribed medication in the world, and it
is for reducing blood pressure.

Having high blood pressure has very few symptoms, if any. Possibly a
headache occasionally, but after that, no symptoms that would make you want
to go to the doctor. And yet, untreated, it can cause a list as long as
your leg of major medical things, many of which can kill you. Kidney
problems, heart problems, you name it.

Go and buy a good cuff. Take your readings a couple of times a day. If you
are above the guidelines, go see your doctor, and you may be given some
simple cheap pills to take once or twice a day. Or, wait, and ignore it
all, and one day while you are shaving or brushing your teeth, your brain
could splatter all over the mirror in a spontaneous explosion. Well, not
that dramatic, but you could be lying on the bathroom floor in a state of
acute medical need, and have something cut loose inside you that was
absolutely 100% preventable. Maybe have a stroke, and that could really
affect your golf or mah jong.

Oh, sure. Call me a neurotic, a paranoid person.

At least I can tell you right now what my blood pressure is. Let me go
check. It is 135/77. That took 90 seconds, and tells me that my BP is in
the good range. Can you tell me in 90 seconds what yours is? Maybe you
will find out tomorrow AM when you are shaving. The point is that this is
one of the major medical things you can monitor yourself cheaply that can
save your life.

She's not nagging when she's right. Not knowing your own blood pressure is
taking an unnecessary chance.

Steve



Keeping your reply for reference. Thanks Steve.