By Tonya Breaux-Shropshire, PhD, DNP, MPH, FNP-Welcome to the Hypertension Blog, where we break down important information about high blood pressure in a way that is easy to understand. Today, we’re going to talk about why it’s essential to measure blood pressure accurately and how different methods can help in diagnosing and managing hypertension.
Did you know that elevated blood pressure and hypertension are major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases? In fact, they contribute to more cardiovascular events and lives lost due to disability than any other modifiable risk factor. That’s why it’s crucial to measure blood pressure accurately and identify individuals with hypertension.
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is considered a significant risk factor for various health conditions, particularly cardiovascular diseases. Here are some reasons why hypertension is considered a risk factor:
1) Increased workload on the heart: High blood pressure means that the force of blood against the walls of the arteries is consistently elevated. This increased pressure puts additional strain on the heart, making it work harder to pump blood throughout the body. Over time, this can lead to heart muscle thickening (left ventricular hypertrophy) and weaken the heart, increasing the risk of heart failure.
2) Damage to blood vessels: Persistent high blood pressure can damage the delicate lining of blood vessels (endothelium) and cause them to become narrower, stiffer, and less elastic. This condition is called atherosclerosis, and it can lead to the formation of plaques, reducing blood flow to vital organs and increasing the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular complications.
3) Increased risk of stroke: Hypertension is a major risk factor for stroke. The increased pressure can damage blood vessels in the brain, leading to the formation of blood clots or the rupture of weakened vessels. This disrupts blood flow to the brain, resulting in a stroke, which can cause long-term disability or even be fatal.
4) Kidney damage: The kidneys play a crucial role in regulating blood pressure. Persistently high blood pressure can damage the small blood vessels in the kidneys and impair their ability to filter waste and excess fluid from the body. This can lead to kidney disease or kidney failure.
5) Risk to other organs: Hypertension can also affect other organs, such as the eyes, leading to vision problems or even blindness. It can contribute to the development of peripheral artery disease, which affects blood flow to the limbs, causing pain, and numbness, and potentially leading to tissue damage and amputation.
6) Increased risk of heart disease: Individuals with hypertension are more likely to develop various forms of heart disease, including coronary artery disease, heart attacks, and heart rhythm abnormalities (arrhythmias).
7) Impact on overall health: High blood pressure has been associated with an increased risk of other health problems, such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cognitive decline, and even certain types of cancer.
It’s important to note that while hypertension is a significant risk factor, it can often be managed and controlled through lifestyle changes, such as a healthy diet, regular exercise, weight management, limiting alcohol intake, and avoiding tobacco use. Additionally, medications may be prescribed by healthcare professionals to help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of associated complications. Regular monitoring and management of blood pressure are essential for maintaining good cardiovascular health.
Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is something we can change and control to lower the risk of health problems. Unlike things we can’t change, like age or genetics, there are things we can do to make it better. Here’s why high blood pressure is something we can change:
1) Changing how we live: The way we live affects our blood pressure. Eating unhealthy foods, not being active, drinking too much alcohol, and smoking can make it go up. But if we make good changes like eating healthy foods, being active, not drinking too much, and not smoking, we can lower our blood pressure.
2) Using medicine: Sometimes, changing how we live isn’t enough, so a doctor might give us medicine to help. The medicine can make our blood vessels relax, lower the amount of fluid in our bodies, or make our hearts not work as hard. Taking the medicine the right way, as the doctor tells us, can help control our blood pressure.
3) Watching our weight: Being a healthy weight is important for controlling blood pressure. If we have too much weight, especially around our waist, it can make our blood pressure go up. But if we eat good foods and exercise regularly, we can keep a healthy weight and lower our blood pressure.
4) Managing stress: Stress, or feeling really worried or upset, can make our blood pressure rise. So it’s important to learn how to manage stress. Doing things like relaxing exercises, mindfulness, and meditation, and finding activities that help us relax can make us feel better and lower our blood pressure.
5) Checking regularly: It’s important to check our blood pressure regularly to make sure it’s not too high. If we keep track of our blood pressure readings, we can see if there are any changes and take the right steps, like changing our lifestyle or talking to a doctor.
By making these changes, we can control our blood pressure and lower the chances of having problems like heart diseases, strokes, or kidney damage. It’s important to take action and make good choices for our health, like eating well, exercising, and following the doctor’s advice.
In the United States, doctors and scientists have guidelines for measuring blood pressure. They say it’s best to do it in a doctor’s office with a trained person taking the measurements. This is called attended office blood pressure measurement. It’s commonly done in clinics and research studies.
But some people think it might be even better to measure blood pressure without a person there, using a special device. This is called unattended office blood pressure measurement. It can be helpful because sometimes, having someone watching can make our blood pressure go up, which isn’t good.
Experts also say it’s important to measure blood pressure outside of the doctor’s office. This is called out-of-office blood pressure measurement. It’s especially important before starting treatment for high blood pressure, unless the blood pressure is really high in the office. Studies have shown that blood pressure measurements taken outside of the office can be different from those taken in the office. And it’s the out-of-office measurements that are more closely related to heart and blood vessel problems.
One way to measure blood pressure outside of the office is by using a device called ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). It’s considered the best way to do it. With ABPM, we wear a special device for 24 hours that measures blood pressure every 15-30 minutes, even while we’re sleeping.
This helps doctors find conditions like white coat hypertension (when our blood pressure is high in the doctor’s office but normal outside), masked hypertension (when our blood pressure is normal in the office but high outside), and nocturnal hypertension (when our blood pressure is high during sleep).
The measurements taken during wakefulness and sleep with ABPM can tell doctors if there’s damage to our organs or a higher risk of heart and blood vessel problems.
So, by measuring blood pressure in different ways, doctors can learn more about our health and make better decisions about how to treat high blood pressure. It’s important to take care of our blood pressure because it can affect our heart and overall health.
Even though ABPM is useful, not everyone can use it because it may not be available or comfortable for some people. That’s where home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) comes in. HBPM devices are made to measure blood pressure while we’re asleep, which is more comfortable than wearing the ABPM device all day. But there isn’t a lot of information comparing the blood pressure measured during sleep by HBPM and ABPM.
In Canada, studies have shown that blood pressure measured in an unattended office tends to be lower than when someone is there, and it’s closer to the blood pressure measured while we’re awake using ABPM. But we still need more research to understand the differences between these measurements at the individual level.
In conclusion, it’s really important to measure blood pressure accurately to diagnose and manage hypertension. Different methods like attending the doctor’s office, using ABPM, and HBPM help doctors get important information about our blood pressure throughout the day and night. By using these methods, doctors can learn more about blood pressure, diagnose hypertension correctly, and create good treatment plans.
That’s all for today’s episode. Thanks for visiting the Hypertension Resistant to Treatment Blog. Stay tuned for more tips and information about managing high blood pressure. Remember, taking care of your blood pressure is taking care of your heart!
