It is amazing to know that for many patients their blood pressure measured by a doctor is very different from that measured by the patient himself. In about quarter of the patients the blood pressure measured by the physician is higher than that recorded at home. This is called white coat hypertension and is a result of anxiety associated with interaction with a medical doctor. For such patients, making a diagnosis of high blood pressure becomes difficult and some may even undergo unnecessary treatment.
On the other hand we have some patients who develop low blood pressure in a hospital or clinic set up. In such patients, diagnosis of hypertension may be missed and they may not get the treatment they need.
To overcome such problems devices to measure ambulatory blood pressure are used. These devices are attached to the patients and they record the blood pressure every half an hour day and night. This helps in keeping a good record of the blood pressure of the patient in routine conditions and therefore it is easier for the physician to decide the line of treatment. The arterial pressure in all such individuals is usually lower. The studies done so far about hypertension have been based on findings in the clinical settings. Therefore studies which are being done now with ambulatory monitoring will throw more light on the effect of treatment for high blood pressure.
It is important to note that to record the blood pressure of a patient, it is required that he should not have taken caffeine, smoked and engaged in strenuous exercises in the last thirty minutes. Many people do not know that if the urinary bladder is full, it may affect the reading of blood pressure. So if the person has the urge to urinate, he should do so before the reading is taken.
When the blood pressure is recorded, the patient should be relaxed, sit on a chair and should rest the arm on a table about the level of the heart. The cuff of the instrument should be in contact with the skin. It should never be on the sleeve of the shirt since it will give incorrect recordings.
If the blood pressure is measured regularly, it should be done around the same time of the day every day to make sure that the findings are comparable.
What has been discussed above is the basic knowledge every hypertensive patient should know.
