Does having a home blood pressure monitor help lower blood pressure? A new study clearly says: “It actually depends upon who you are.”

The researchers gathered two groups of people with high blood pressure. One group had never suffered from stroke while the other had. Everyone was given home blood pressure monitors and asked to measure their blood pressure three times a day.

The study revealed that the group that had already suffered a stroke was able to shave an average of 10 points off their systolic blood pressure, compared to the other group that saw only a 5-point reduction.

Some experts that commented on the study out of Duke University concluded that it may indicate that having a home blood pressure monitor is of little help to those who hadn’t yet suffered a stroke when compared to the other group.

Not so, say other researchers, who cite a review of several clinical studies from 2010 that followed people managing high blood pressure who were given the monitors for home use.

That review uncovered that not only were the home monitor users able to reduce their blood pressure several points more than those who didn’t monitor at home, they were also able to reduce their medication more over time.

The exact reasons for why the monitor-using groups saw more benefits was speculated to be that they were more proactive in getting a hold on their hypertension as compared to the group that didn’t monitor at home.

Studies have also shown that home readings are at least as accurate, if not more accurate, than doctor office readings because they eliminate the “White Coat Syndrome” effect.

If you have high blood pressure, you may want to check out easy exercises that drop blood pressure below 120/80 – sometimes the very first day….