You and Your Blood Pressure

Your blood pressure directly affects your health and careful measuring with the right equipment is essential for accurate readings

High Blood Pressure affects millions of people in the UK increasing the risk of stroke and heart attack. It has no symptoms.  The only way for you to know if you have low, normal, or high blood pressure is to have it measured using an accurate blood pressure monitor.

A recent study showed that people who measure their blood pressure at home have better control of their condition. It found that blood pressure was lower in people who had been checking their blood pressure at home. More...

To understand more about what blood pressure is and why it is important to lower high blood pressure read the full information on the high blood pressure page.  This site also contains information about low blood pressure.

Blood pressure monitoring needs to give accurate readings if it is to be worthwhile.  You may have been advised to measure your blood pressure at home in order to get a more accurate record or your readings or just want to keep a check on your own blood pressure. On this site you can access a comprehensive fact sheet about how to measure blood pressure.

Blood pressure is more and more often measured using an automatic blood pressure monitor that can also be used at home.  For ease of use these machines can be fully automatic and measure blood pressure correctly on the upper arm at heart level. The readings are given on a digital display and can be stored in the monitor's memory or printed out.

It is worth noting that electronic blood pressure measuring devices have the following advantages:

• Electronic blood pressure measuring devices are becoming the norm now mercury is being phased out because of its hazardous nature.
• Most of these are now accurate enough for routine clinical use and are relatively inexpensive.
• Automatic machines don't require the use of a stethoscope to hear when the pulse stops and begins to determine the two readings (systolic and diastolic pressure)
• They eliminate many of the errors in blood pressure measurement that human beings can generate.

You can buy top models of blood pressure monitors from online medical supply shops such as Medisave who offer the latest approved models from leading brands such as Omron, A&D and Microlife at heavily discounted online prices. Learn more...

The British Hypertension Society produce an up to date list of blood pressure monitors suitable for both clinical and home users which have been tested and approved. Find out more about these machines and how to use them properly.