Lifestyle changes to control blood pressure
Written by: Dr. Rowena | Posted: Jan 11 2009
Q: In hospital I did a bicycle heart [stress] test. My heart was very good, but during the test my blood pressure went up from 130 to 230 after about 4 minutes. The doctors then advised me to do a 24-hour monitor and my blood pressure was sometimes a little bit above 140 (I am 55 years old) but not much. What can I do?
A: It sounds like your doctor is not recommending drug management of your blood pressure at this time. This does not mean that you should do nothing. Make the appropriate changes to your lifestyle. The Mayo Clinic does a good job of listing changes that help control blood pressure. You might also want to consider using the RESPeRATE.
Tags: 24-hour monitor, Blood Pressure & Hypertension, heart stress test, lifestyle, Mayo clinic24 hour blood pressure monitoring
Written by: Dr. Rowena | Posted: Oct 29 2008
Q: My blood pressure rate is usually 135/85. However, if I take it five minutes later it goes down to 120/72. Which one is my real BP?
A: Both are real blood pressures but it is impossible to say which one more accurately reflects your average blood pressure. With wide discrepancies in properly taken blood pressure measurements, doctors sometimes order 24 hour blood pressure monitoring to determine if high blood pressure is really present.
Tags: 24 hour ambulatory measurement, 24-hour monitor, fluctuating, fluctuating blood pressure, Measuring Your BP
