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Hypertension Monitoring
Persistently high blood pressure (BP) causes strain on the arteries carrying blood around the body, which may eventually lead to Heart Attacks and Strokes. Please see the British Hypertension society website for further information.
If you have been diagnosed with hypertension you will usually be advised to start medication if your cardiovascular risk is elevated.
For those with hypertension it is important to monitor your blood pressure regularly. Many patient are measuring their own at home with a purchased device. We recommend that if you do so, you only purchase one that is approved as accurate by the British Hypertension Society. Please note that they may need replacing every 3-4years as they will usually lose their accuracy after that.
Take your BP measurements after relaxing for 5 minutes and note down the best of three readings. The usual aim is to have a home BP of below 135/85 on average. You can work out your average using the spreadsheet below. Note that BP is naturally variable with “highs” and “lows” but we are most interested in the average.
We need to see you at the practice annually for a brief review, but we need reassurance that your BP is controlled at other times. Your doctor will be interested to receive a message from you, perhaps by email, at the 6 month interval with your average BP figure e.g., 120/80 perhaps. If your BP is higher than the above figure you may need to send more frequently.
Further Information
