This disease reminds us of the deadly leopard, crocodile and mountain lion. Hypertension is both stealthy and unnoticed until it is too late, just like the above mentioned professional killers. When the problems associated with hypertension make their presence known, there is often permanent damage. This is a disease process that affects untold millions of people here in the U.S. and abroad, many of which have not been diagnosed and/or adequately treated for it.

The list of potential dire consequences that may result from years of uncontrolled high blood pressure is lengthy to say the least but we will name a few just to be complete. Heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, aneurysms, congestive heart failure and leaking or incompetent cardiac valves are just some of the more common problems resulting from hypertension.

As we all age, we begin to see ourselves less immortal then we did when we were in our teens and twenties. Often we begin to pay attention to our health more often then not. Many different companies offer a wide variety of assorted screening tests to the general public without having to see a doctor. They charge a flat fee, test you and give you the results for you to follow up with your physician.

Of all these services getting your blood pressure checked is one of the easiest things someone can do. It takes seconds (as most of you already know) not to mention that there are numerous over the counter blood pressure measuring devices being sold. So no one even has to be trained to take blood pressure to get a relatively accurate reading.

If you are thinking of getting one of the home models available, we suggest getting one of the devices that measure your pressure by means of a cuff that fits around your upper arm as they are more reliable in our experience. Please note that it is very important that the cuff that you purchase fit your arm correctly. If it is too small or large, you may get an inaccurate reading. What we all strive for is to have an average resting blood pressure of less than 140/90ml/Hg (forget about the units and just focus on the numbers).

The first number is the systolic pressure, which the pressure in the arterial system when the heart is contracting. The second number is the diastolic and is the system’s pressure when the heart is in between beats. Derangements can occur in both the systolic and diastolic function of the vascular system.

Next, it is important to recognize that blood pressure varies over the course of the day and has been noted to sometimes rise just because a health care professional is measuring it (whitecoat hypertension). Because of these normal variations it is important to take reading over time and at various points in the day to get a good average. Finally, if your pressure was say 110/ 60 a few months ago, an increase to say an average of 135/85, while still “normal” merits more investigation.