Hello LPG,

A situation I found myself in recently got me asking questions; let me explain.

About a year ago I went to a health day which was designed to get its audience thinking and working on becoming more health conscious, and I must say that it had the desired effect on me.  Amongst other therapists, there was someone offering advice on how to stop smoking,;  people explaining the significance of one’s BMI; a masseur and an osteopath explaining what their practices offer and giving basic demonstrations; and a GP checking blood pressure.

I had my blood pressure checked and I was told that it was pretty high.  The Doctor that measured it advised me to visit my own GP which I did.  He recommended that I get a blood pressure machine and take daily measurements for a while before returning to see him again, and now it is controlled with a daily tablet.  

Had I not attended that event I would most probably still have been completely ignorant of just how bad my blood pressure was because I cannot really remember the last time I needed to see my doctor.

Back then I took the readings but really had no idea about their significance.  I have since learned that unchecked high blood pressure is one of the principle preludes to a stroke (►►►) .

We all know that our blood is pumped around our body by courtesy of our pumping hearts, and I have now learned that the first of the two readings provided by a blood pressure gauge numbers (the systolic measurement) shows the pressure when the heart is contracted and the second (The Diastolic reading) shows the pressure when the heart is relaxed. (►►►).

So, though we are not all the same, it appears that if the top reading remains between 120 and 140, while our bottom reading stays between 40 and 60 we are doing OK.

If you have a blood pressure reader which shows a third measurement it is usually your pulse rate but that is a different story.  

I feel that this is a bit of knowledge that should be shared as there will always be a visitor to the internet for whom this is a completely new piece of information and that is what LPG is all about.

JA, Brockley

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