Good News on BP and Suggestions for Tracking Your Results

The chart is a screen shot of my blood pressure measurements, which I try to take every morning when I sit down at my computer.  What it shows is that over the course of the time since I started monitoring it, my systolic pressure (the “top number”) has dropped significantly and more important, consistently.  This can’t be due to anything other than my exercise program.

In the long run, blood pressure will generally respond to weight loss, and also, to some extent, to diet (which is why we get all that “lower your salt” advice.)  But personal experience tells me that whenever I’ve been physically pretty active, particularly with lots of good aerobics, my BP tends to be fairly healthy (if you consider still needing a med for it “healthy,” but I take what I can get.)  On the other hand, I’ve never, over many years, stopped in to the doc’s and had it checked and look okay when I was going through one of my “not so much exercise” periods.

So I’m glad that it’s going down.  But I’m also glad that I have the data here to prove it, and in the long run, this may be more critical than my current BP, because it tends to confirm that my skills at monitoring health data are getting better.

As I’ve been mentioning, the real and often unspoken key to weight management is often contained in how well we can manage our behavior.  And very often, we sink or swim in that regard based on ridiculously little things.

In the case of my blood pressure, the real keys to even getting the data at all involve two decisions I made recently.  One was to get a new BP cuff (I have several others, but they’re off somewhere in storage due to our recent moves), and the other decision involved where I store the thing.  In buying the cuff, I decided to get a model that, from previous experience, is pretty simple and fairly reliable to use.  I use the Panasonic model pictured here. (It’s the EW3109, if you care.)

What I like about this model is that it’s super simple to operate.  All you do is wrap the cuff around your arm and hit one button.  (There are a few other minor things you should know, such as sitting properly for accurate results — not crossing your legs and such — easy stuff to look up on the ‘net, or ask your local R.N. or doc.)  If you like, it’ll also remember your results — you just have to hit the other button.  It couldn’t be easier than that.

I’d considered a cheaper model which I’ve used before, the kind where you wrap the cuff over a stethoscope and then sit there counting your pulse beats and watching a gauge and so on, but that tends to be a lot of fumbling and I’ve often been concerned about how accurately I was measuring things.  But accuracy aside, my major concern was the fumbling.  If I’m going to have to juggle to do it right, I know that means I won’t do the measurements as often.  Some mornings it’ll just be too much of a hassle.  Before long, that’ll mean I don’t do it at all.

Storage was my second point.  I leave the cuff open, right next to my desk on a side table.  It’s in easy reach of the computer because that’s where I log these results.  So in the morning, or whenever I want to check it, I can just sit down while the coffee or tea are brewing, slide my arm into the cuff and hit a button.  Voilá!  It’s done.

These results can be important for you to have.  For instance, on my last last doc visit we discussed my somewhat high numbers and agreed that we might need to bump up my meds if they are still high.  But you can bet I’ll be hauling this chart in, along with my other data, in order to make sure we don’t start messing with meds if we don’t have to.  Ultimately, I want to get to where I need fewer, or even no meds, so this shows I’m heading in the right direction.  After all, the best health care is the stuff you do before somebody has to start reaching for prescription pads.

« A Day Off? Weekly weight loss regimens

Diet control and the measuring “cops” »