VII -
The follow-up of a high blood pressure
7.1
- The control of the blood
pressure with the physician : the follow-up
7.2 - The control of the blood pressure by an automatic
device at home
7.3 - Sometimes,
an ambulatory blood pressure measurement during 24 hours is necessary
7.2-
The control of the blood pressure oneself by an automatic device
Many studies have showed
that the control of the blood pressure at home allowed a better management
of this disease. Thus, the patient takes his antihypertensive drugs
regularly and warns his practitioner of eventual high blood pressure
crisis, which considerably limits the complications of this disease.
Example
of self-measurement of blood pressure: Wrist sphygmomanometer.
At present many self-measurement
devices are easy to use because they are completely automatic. Non-automatic
devices should be avoided, as the ones using a stethoscope for example.
The measurement of the blood pressure at home is measured at the arm, and it
is better to use a self-measurement device which records the blood pressure
on this location. The technical studies of validation have been achieved with
self-measurement devices which recorded the blood pressure at the arm and not
at the wrist or at the finger.
Measurements at home will
be carried out in a quiet place, away from any stress, in a sitting
position, the cuff at the level of the chest. A series of three measurements
is carried out and only the average of last two measurements must be
taken into account.
For example, if the measured
pressure is 15/10 for the first measurement, 14/9 for the second and
13/8 for the third, it is necessary to eliminate the first and the
average of two others is thus of 13.5/8.5. However all the medical
teams do not use this technique.
These measurements must be
done in the morning and in the evening, during a 5 day-period every
month for example. It is important to note the value of the pressure
in a follow-up notebook.
Moreover, this self-measurement
device can also control the blood pressure in case new symptoms appear
such as a headache or a nosebleed. A crisis of high blood pressure
is then avoided.
The value of the blood pressure,
which defines a high blood pressure, is 135/85 millimetres of mercury
(13.5/8.5). This value is slightly lower than the blood pressure measured
in the physician office.
It is necessary to regularly
control the reliability of your device, either by sending it back to
the manufacturer or by bringing it to your physician who will measure
simultaneously the blood pressure with your device and with his own
personal cuff and stethoscope. This precaution is essential to avoid
many errors and anxieties!
| File
last modified on : 28 sep 2003 |
|
|
