Dear LPG

 As we age, things have a habit of going a bit wrong, and one of the first things that starts to fluctuate is blood pressure. I remember, about 12 years ago, being a new pensioner at a health workshop at my local church, the day they checked everything that might be wrong.  

Back in the day, everyone was trying to stop smoking, and there was lots of advice about that; never having smoked, it felt good that I did not have to learn about how my lungs and breathing were being affected. 

Someone doing a shoulder massage was very relaxing, but I was unprepared for what a doctor said about my blood pressure.  After a measurement, she told me to see my GP as soon as possible because the condition was relatively high.  I did as told, and that was the week that I found myself coming to the reality that I would have to take a tablet every day for the rest of my life to curb it.  The doctor that I talked with on that day mentioned that unchecked high blood pressure could lead to disability, poor quality of life, or even a deadly heart attack or stroke, and a visit to the internet corroborated what was said.  That was enough to worry me, and I learned to take that pill regularly and quickly. 

Since then, I have learned how often we see films and news items measured when a patient enters a doctor’s consultation room. So many of my friends and I are now very used to producing a bared arm at the beginning of most visits. I have no doubt readers of a certain age will have a similar story to tell about what happens when they visit their doctors. 

However, with telephone doctor appointments, we can all be sure that the sale of home blood pressure gauges has risen.  We are now accepting the ‘do it yourself’ health regime, where everything is done remotely, and I think I have embraced it. Measuring my blood pressure has become part of my daily routine, and I exercise a bit in the morning, but the readings can be a little bizarre.  

I worked out that I have been doing it for so long that I have forgotten some ground rules.  I sometimes find myself standing instead of sitting down, and I am not that particular about how tight or loose the cuff is sometimes. The temptation to do something with the other hand while waiting for the reading to sort itself out is another thing.  All too often, the pump goes while I adjust the television with the remote control, straining to check the time on my watch or chatting with a friend on my hands-free smartphone instead of keeping still and relaxed.  My doctor reminded me during a recent telephone consultation when my reading was high, and this all came out.  

Another thing that he mentioned was that sometimes it is a good idea to check the accuracy of your home machine by taking it with you when you next visit the doctor and comparing its results with the one the doctor’s machine offers.  

I thought that, as blood pressure is a focus of so many older lives, a little BP refresher course might be worth sharing.

JA, Brockley

JA has found a few online reminders of the fundamentals of successful blood pressure monitoring…

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