Really raised my Blood Pressure

[steveny]

I am really upset by the experience I had this week end.
I am now 38 years old and thought it would be a good idea to start watching my blood pressure since both my mother and father have slightly high blood pressure.
So I head to Wal-Mart and bought a blood pressure monitor. I get it home unpack it, read all the directions, and then take a reading.
155 over 111. WHOLLY $HIT. I panic and go to see my doctor the very next day. She takes my blood pressure 130 over 80. I ask her to take it again in five minutes 135 over 74. She tells me maybe the machine I bought is miss-calibrated.
I go back to Wal-Mart and use their sit down machine and measure my blood pressure. 130 over 79. Then I use the machine I bought which I brought back to the store with me. 151 over 108. I then continued to test five other machines from the shelve against the sit down machine Wal-mart owns. Would you believe four of those machines had a 10% to 25% error margin against the sit down machine. BTW the machine Wal-Mart owns gave me almost the exact same reading every time.
My question is, How can a company manufacture and sell an important piece of health equipment which does not give an accurate reading? What if someone did in fact have high blood pressure and the machine they bought gives them a low reading? Is there an agency that regulates this type of equipment?

 

[matteni]

I guess as long as they are:

- cheap
- repeatable
- easy to use

you can always to the adjustment and check with the expensive ones.

On the other hand the best scale I ever had always showed 3 lbs heavy - perfectly. I took a baseball bat to it one day - so I guess I know what you are talking about. If that scale had read 3 lbs light I would have paid hundreds to keep it working if it ever broke!

 

[Joel]

Funny you mentioned this. I was just at Wal Mart and saw those portable blood pressure machines and was actually thinking of getting one. I should know better though.

The best way to get your blood pressure checked is using a manual cuff (sphygmomanometer) and stethoscope. Learn how to use it (just go to a clinic and ask them to show you) and teach it to a signif. other. Then have them check your bp.

It's not the cheapest equipment, but it will give the most accurate systolic and dialostic numbers.

BTW, a "normal" bp reading is 120/80.

 

[steveny]

.

BTW, a "normal" bp reading is 120/80.

The booklet which came with the equipment I bought says anything 140/90 or lower is considered normal. However while I was at the doctors office she showed me a revised chart the American Heart Association put out which now has figures lower than 140/90. I believe the new numbers were 117/74 was optimal. My readings tonight were 115/72 with the new machine I bought.

 

[SagaSupra]

everyone in my family including myself is plagued with high blood pressure and we use those portable machines all the time and about half the time the numbers that come up are way off. I found that if you arent in the perfect state and your arm is not in the perfect condition, then the test wont work. just make sure you are completely still. what i do is sit on a chair next to my bed, wrap the portable tester on my forearm and wrest the forearm on my bed. Usually doing it this way results in much more accurate readings.

 

[hlweyl]

All of the numbers on continually revised. BP, cholesterol, blood sugar, etc. You are correct 140/90 is considered high now.

If they keep lowering the numbers, heck, we will all be on BP and Lipid meds. BTW, a stress test is a great way to look at your BP. It gives you a dynamic reading. Some people will have a normal BP but when they start moving it rockets way up.

At our cardiac clinic we used to use a 24 blood pressure monitor and they suck. The readings are all over the board and the Cardiologist hate them. Hence, we nixed it!

Good luck