A controversial new study looking at Mayo Clinic patients was recently published that challenges what most people- including doctors- understand about when and how to have blood pressure measured.
This could mean that millions of people were unnecessarily put on dangerous blood pressure medications, when in fact their blood pressure was completely healthy.
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic looked at medical histories of over 400 patients and found that having blood pressure taken every time a patient sees the doctor may cause more damage than checking only once per year.
The reasons they cited for the potential errors in over-diagnosis due to false positives included that the staff were not following proper testing procedures, and the effects of “white coat syndrome.” This happens when blood pressure is temporarily elevated due to anxiety over simply having a doctor visit.
The researchers concluded, after studying the charts, that taking a patient’s blood pressure once per year (and then doing it properly) at the annual exam would eliminate the vast majority of false positives.
By extension, this would eliminate unnecessary follow-up tests or drug regimens.
Critics looking at the study results say that the 7% error in finding actual hypertensive patients by screening only once per year is too big of an error margin and more frequent testing should always be the safer route.
The battle underscores the need for frequent and properly conducted at-home screening. There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that home meters, when used at the recommended 3-times-per-day interval and in the proper way are a much more accurate gauge of how a patient is faring than measuring blood pressure in the stressful area of a doctor’s office.
The proper way includes making sure the person being tested is seated, has been at rest for at least 5 minutes prior to the test, and the testing arm is supported. Both sides of the controversial study agree that this is not being done in the doctor’s office, which accounts for many of the errors.
Repeated studies are also revealing that natural methods are always the best to lower blood pressure.
The most effective natural methods to lower blood pressure are 3 easy exercises that have been proven to lower blood pressure to a healthy level in as little as 9 minutes.
Learn more about these exercises and test-drive them online here…
Makes one wonder on what basis the norm …120/80 was derived? How many readings/ individuals were taken/tested , and under what conditions ?? Or, has this unchallengeable figure emerged from conventional wisdom/ rule of thumb?
I resolved this problem by going to the pharmacy and take my own blood pressure BEFORE going to the doctor. The machine gives a slip of the record and I bring it to the doctor to proove I am o.k.
I was told I didn't have to return for my BP check for 2 years..During that time I developed Malignant Hypertension and nearly dropped dead…If a patients so called white coat reading is 190/115, this is high blood pressure no matter what name you call it..You better take your medication……
It is terrible to know that this day we are still having problems reading and interpreting the numbers we have after measuring the blood pressure. Get it right folks.
before 2008 my health was perfect and my blood pressure was excelent for a 67 year old man. In 2008 i went to doctor for physical,first time I had been to doctor in 20 years.My blood pressure was high when taken st doctors,167/87. I had “white cost hypertension” but didn’t even know what it was at the time. Then the doctor and staff caused anxiety with their attitude. To make a long story short I was put on four medications trying to get the blood pressure down. This caused side affects such as depression and insomia’hearing loss and I was prescribed more drugs.After 2 years and one suicide attempt I finally received help from a physciatrist and a lead heart specialist. It took me 2 years to get off the HBP drugs and their side affects.I now take two calcium channel blockers and my new doctor believes I can get off that but it will take more time since these have a way of occuping your blood cells. Before going to the doctor in 2008 my blood pressure taken at home every three months was 127/70–139/78. The only time it was ever high is that day I went to the doctors and had to wait 2 hours in an overcrowded room and anothe rhour in a small cramp up room.
FYI: I discovered my white coat reaction is severe and from hospital, to local clinic, to neighbors to my own apt I went down 70 points. However my home conditions/work are still very stressful so I have not established a real baseline reading yet and my GP and 'expert' are basing all their pill pushing on incorrect data.
Love to find a baseline without stress and Dr's who actually have a clue about science.
The wait in the waiting room is the worst, no matter what your appointment is about. I always get an uneasy feeling as soon as I sit down in that room.
I also had a sky high reading at the emergency doctor once, following an experience i had where i felt i was fainting after an extremely crazy day that started with extreme tooth pain, then a long wait until I could get an emergency apointment at a dentist the same day. All the painkillers, booze, garlic etc. I tried to calm the pain until the dentists appointment plus the actual pain reliever the dentist used, was just too much. he had to pull a tooth and when I got home and looked in the mirror into the open wound, I had a reaction where the body slows the heart rate and makes you faint. I didn’t faint but it was close. A lot of people have it when they see their own blood. It is a mechanism the body uses in case of blood loss. By slowing the heart rate the body preserves blood and the blood at the wound will coagulate quicker, making the bleeding stop faster.
The doctor put me on some mild bp medication. But I am taking the maximum dose. I had several tests to try to find out why my bp was high. None of them gave any reason. I have the white coat syndrome also. My bp is usually skyhigh at the doctor.
I have had the horrible 24/7 bp measring equipment several times from the doctor. It is really a torture instrument. I refuse to ever wear it again. The measurements are inaccurate as hell, because it is so uncomfortable, and it feels like it is crushing your arm at times. It goes off every 10-20 minutes for 24 hours, preceeded by a beep! so you can’t sleep either.
Instead I bought a bp measuring device similar to the one they also have at the doctor, and take my bp at home once in a while, and it is much better.
I wish to get off the meds. I have also bought the 3-exercise program from this site. I have not tried it for long enough to see if it makes a difference. But the first exercise is very easy and I do that from time to time when I remember to. It can only do good.
My bp with the meds are at the 140/90 edge, sometimes a little lower, sometimes a little higher. usually the third measurement where I am most releaxed is in the 13X/8X range.
Because of a serious diagnosis of 'White Coat Fever' after 2 separate 24hr blood pressure checks I was advised to purchase my own blood pressure monitor, which I did. I take my bp 2-3 times daily and I also take my monitor with me when I see my Dr. She now accepts my readings (she has checked her monitor against mine) because of the increase in my bp when I go to see her (very frustrating as she definitely does not make me feel nervous). BP monitor was the best purchase I've ever made.