Re: Blood Pressue--Am I Cheating?

[Guest guest]

I don't think that is cheating. Your BP is good. My Neph always tells me

they want it 130/80 or below for kidney patients, so you are doing well!

It is good to keep an eye on it though so it does not creep up too high.

In a message dated 12/1/2004 4:46:41 PM Pacific Standard Time,

tettnanger7@... writes:

> I've read here numerous times it is important to keep your blood

> pressure under control. Mine is not high nor am I on any BP

> medications but I do have a home blood pressure kit to monitor it just

> in case. When I first got it I found that my right arm was

> consistently higher than my left so I stuck with that. My BP a at

> rest was always around 125-130/70. Not bad I guess but maybe higher

> than I'd like for my age. At the doctor's office I noticed that they

> usually keep your arm perpendicular with your body. I hadn't been

> doing that at home. When I started to rest my arm on my printer,

> which keeps my arm perpendicular with my body, I noticed my BP dropped

> to around 117/63 on average. Am I cheating in anyway by doing this

> with my arm? Should this make this big of a difference?

>

> thanks!

[Guest guest]

Ideally your arm should be at the same level as your heart.

Pierre

Blood Pressue--Am I Cheating?

>

>

>

> I've read here numerous times it is important to keep your blood

> pressure under control. Mine is not high nor am I on any BP

> medications but I do have a home blood pressure kit to monitor it just

> in case. When I first got it I found that my right arm was

> consistently higher than my left so I stuck with that. My BP a at

> rest was always around 125-130/70. Not bad I guess but maybe higher

> than I'd like for my age. At the doctor's office I noticed that they

> usually keep your arm perpendicular with your body. I hadn't been

> doing that at home. When I started to rest my arm on my printer,

> which keeps my arm perpendicular with my body, I noticed my BP dropped

> to around 117/63 on average. Am I cheating in anyway by doing this

> with my arm? Should this make this big of a difference?

>

> thanks!

>

[Guest guest]

If your arm (midpoint of upperarm) is 10cm above the heart level

there will be a decrease of about 8mm in both systolic and diastolic

values. If 10cm below heart level, 8mm increase will be seen. So the

position of arm can make that big difference.

The angle of arm is not what you should base to get the correct

position. Note that even in a perpendicular position there can be a

significant difference in the level of your arm (with respect to the

level of heart) depending upon the height of the support where you

rest your arm (arm can go up or down with the shoulder movement).

Know the level of your heart, know where the midpoint of your

upperarm is and just align them at the same level (with the arm

comfortably resting somewhere).

There is a video of self-measurement of BP at the mayoclinic site:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?objectid=DF2B2177-B315-417E-

B487BAACF7FEA4CB

regards,

full_life

>

When I started to rest my arm on my printer,

> which keeps my arm perpendicular with my body, I noticed my BP

dropped

> to around 117/63 on average. Am I cheating in anyway by doing this

> with my arm? Should this make this big of a difference?

>

> thanks!

[Guest guest]

Full_life,

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I finally understand what they

mean by " the arm should be at the same level as the heart " ...I even

asked my neph this, and he still couldn't really explain it to

me...I am such a slow learner.... ; )

Sophia

> >

> When I started to rest my arm on my printer,

> > which keeps my arm perpendicular with my body, I noticed my BP

> dropped

> > to around 117/63 on average. Am I cheating in anyway by doing

this

> > with my arm? Should this make this big of a difference?

> >

> > thanks!

[Guest guest]

Thanks a lot for the response. After reading your post I looked

closer at how I was doing my BP. When I had my arm on my printer the

midpoint of my arm probably was slightly higher than my heart. When I

adjusted it to be even with my heart it seemed to go up just a tad

bit. But, then again, previously when my chair was up high and the

midpoint was below my heart I was probably getting a reading that was

higher than it really should be. Thanks again...

> >

> When I started to rest my arm on my printer,

> > which keeps my arm perpendicular with my body, I noticed my BP

> dropped

> > to around 117/63 on average. Am I cheating in anyway by doing this

> > with my arm? Should this make this big of a difference?

> >

> > thanks!