Now that Spring is beginning to make itself felt across the country, you can now get outside and begin working on getting more activity, while enjoying the sun and warming weather. People that know they need to become more active because of yearly visits to their physicians who warn them that their current lifestyle is not providing enough physical activity to get their blood pressure under control. If you don’t know what your numbers are, you should not wait to find out after you’ve experienced a medical incident. Make an appointment with your physician and get an overall physical and let them tell you the results of how you fare and what if anything you need to be aware of.

High blood pressure or hypertension (blood pressure greater than 140/90 over a period of time) affects nearly 78 million Americans. Although it’s the leading cause of death worldwide (13 percent), about 30 percent of adults don’t even know they have high blood pressure. Many of those who are aware aren’t taking control of their disease. If left untreated, hypertension can increase your risk for heart attacks, strokes, and peripheral arterial disease (decreased blood flow usually to the legs and feet).

If after visiting your physician and you are told that you indeed are part of those 78 million you need to not only work at getting your blood pressure under control but you also need to monitor it so you can react if your blood pressure rises or falls so that you can take necessary action.

Using a home blood pressure monitor is a good idea so that you can track your blood pressure on a regular basis. Your doctor can advise you how often you should check your pressure and what to do if it rises or falls. One such monitor that can easily be used is the LifeSource UB351 Automatic Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor  It is a wrist based monitor that will alert you of the presence of an irregular heartbeat and provides blowrist-based and pulse rate measurements even if an irregular heartbeat occurs. It can also calculate the average of the total readings stored in its memory; a convenient way to get a snapshot of your measurements over time and provide you with an average of just what your blood pressure is over a specific timeframe.

How to use a home blood pressure monitor
Be still. Don't smoke, drink caffeinated beverages or exercise within 30 minutes before measuring your blood pressure. Empty your bladder and ensure at least 5 minutes of quiet rest before measurements.

Sit correctly. Sit with your back straight and supported (on a dining chair, rather than a sofa). Your feet should be flat on the floor and your legs should not be crossed. Your arm should be supported on a flat surface (such as a table) with the upper arm at heart level

Measure at the same time every day. It’s important to take the readings at the same time each day, such as morning and evening. It is best to take the readings daily however ideally beginning 2 weeks after a change in treatment and during the week before your next appointment.

Take multiple readings and record the results. Each time you measure, take two or three readings one minute apart and record the results. If your monitor has built-in memory to store your readings, take it with you to your appointments. Some monitors may also allow you to upload your readings to a secure website after you register your profile.

So just what are the numbers to be aware of? We have them listed Below:

NORMAL LESS THAN 120 and LESS THAN 80
ELEVATED 120 – 129 and LESS THAN 80

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
(HYPERTENSION) STAGE 1 130 – 139 or 80 – 89

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
(HYPERTENSION) STAGE 2 140 OR HIGHER or 90 OR HIGHER

If you get a high blood pressure reading:
A single high reading is not an immediate cause for alarm. If you get a reading that is slightly or moderately higher than normal, take your blood pressure a few more times and consult your healthcare professional to verify if there’ s a health concern or whether there may be any issues with your monitor.

If your blood pressure readings suddenly exceed 180/120 mm Hg, wait five minutes and test again. If your readings are still unusually high, contact your doctor immediately. You could be experiencing a hypertensive crisis.
If your blood pressure is higher than 180/120 mm Hg and you are experiencing signs of possible organ damage such as chest pain, shortness of breath, back pain, numbness/weakness, change in vision, difficulty speaking, do not wait to see if your pressure comes down on its own. Call 9-1-1!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the American College of Sports Medicine all recommend at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both for adults.

Intensity – Exercise at a moderate level. Use the “talk test” to help you monitor. For example, even though you may notice a slight rise in your heart rate and breathing, you should be able to carry on a conversation while walking at a moderate pace. As you walk faster, you will begin to breathe faster and have difficulty talking. At that point, you’ve achieved moderate intensity or “somewhat hard.” Vigorous exercise causes a large rise in heart rate and breathing. At this intensity, it would become difficult to talk. Most people would rate this as “hard to very hard.”

Time – Exercise 30-60 minutes per day. You can do it all at once or break it up into a few sessions of at least minutes each.

Type – Do rhythmic exercises using the large muscle groups. Try brisk walking, cycling, and swimming. Choose activities you enjoy and will do regularly in your new, more active
lifestyle. Add variety depending on the day or the season to keep your program more enjoyable.

Start by exercising on your own. Begin walking or another form of activity that you can integrate into your daily routine.

Do rhythmic exercises using large muscle groups:
Try brisk walking, cycling, and swimming. Choose activities you enjoy and will do regularly in your new, more active lifestyle. Add variety depending on the day or the season to
keep your program more enjoyable. All you really need, though, is a good pair of shoes
to get started walking. Use a Pedometer or other activity tracker to monitor your progress. Slowly work toward a goal, like maybe 10,000 steps per day.

If you have been inactive for a long time, start with short sessions (ten to 15 minutes). Add five minutes to each session, increasing every two to four weeks. Gradually build up to being active 30 minutes a day for most days of the week. Be sure to drink plenty of fluids before, during, and after exercise, especially if you plan to exercise on a hot day or for a
long time. Always cool down slowly.

If possible, measure your blood pressure before you exercise. Do not exercise if your resting systolic blood pressure (the top number) is greater than 200 or your diastolic blood pressure
(the bottom number) is greater than 115. Contact your doctor!

So, getting back to where we started, now that you have some beneficial information about how and why you check your blood pressure. It's important that "Knowing" your numbers and keeping them in line will allow you to help yourself by being more active and getting your body in better shape.

And what better time to get started then in the Spring of the new year? By walking at a brisk pace,  eating healthy, lowering your stress all these things combined can help keep you living a more healthy and active life for years to come!
 

 

 

 

by Anura Guruge

The Lifesource UB351  is a joy to use, amazingly accurate and at its sale price of $17 (at HRM USA) an absolute steal. At that giveaway price it has to be the best $17 you will ever spend in that this gem of a unit can prolong your life, if not save it. I have had one now for a few months and for the first time in my life I am actually enjoying having my blood pressure taken!

It is very accurate. I took it with me to my annual physical and the nurse and I did three readings. In each instance we were with ‘5’ of each other; ‘121’ to ‘118’, ‘69’ to ‘73’ etc. Given that the readings were not taken simultaneously these results were well within normal tolerances. The nurse was impressed and urged me to use it, often. And I do.

I am no stranger to automatic blood pressure monitors. Over the decades I have owned four or five ‘high-end’ upper-arm units – a couple with built-in printers and a calibration capability. The LifeSource UB351, however, is in a different league altogether both in terms of accuracy and ease-of-use. None of my prior units, and yes, of course, they had older technology, were never this accurate and reliable

If you have hypertension concerns you no doubt have heard of the ‘white coat syndrome’ (or even ‘white coat hypertension’). This is where your blood pressure readings could be 10, 20 or more ‘points’ higher because you are stressed about having your blood pressure taken. The ‘white coat’ signifying a doctor or a nurse. In my experience you can have even worse ‘white coat syndrome’ when using an automated unit at home. You are worried as to what it is going to say. Then to compound matters the unit makes an ominous ‘clicking’ noise as it inflates and, even if you can set limits, the cuff is invariably over inflated to the point of pain. So, by the time the readings are taken you are inordinately stressed and the readings reflect that. Now you worry more. Taking another reading only worsens matters. Well, the good news. The LifeSource is much kinder to your arm and senses. It is what you would call user-friendly.

Using the LifeSource is easy. There is already a rigid, semi-formed cuff built-in. So, slipping it on is just like putting on an adjustable bracelet. No hassle. It just slips on. Then you tighten the Velcro and you are good to go. While it does ‘chug’ while inflating the sound is not too overpowering – and it does not try to cut off your circulation.

I am delighted that I got this unit. I get e-mail notifications from HRM USA and this unit was a featured item a few months ago. I think it was $19 at the time. So, here is the funny thing. Just that week I had accompanied someone to a very fancy medical facility and had noticed that they were using wrist-based units, exclusively. I asked a nurse about it. She said that they were accurate, easy-to-use and fast – making it better for both sides. I do not think they were LifeSource units, but the timing could not have been any better. I am, as you can probably tell, quite impressed with this purchase. I could not have hoped for better.

The instructions that come with the unit are good, though I wish they had opted for a larger booklet with bigger fonts. But, it is not a showstopper. They are very precise and tell you, exactly, how you should have your arm, level with your heart etc. I wear a Garmin Fenix 5 (also from HRM USA) 24x7 on my left wrist – the same wrist that LifeSource recommends for their readings. I have found that the LifeSource fits in, nicely, next to my Garmin. Not having to take off the Garmin was another bonus. It also lets me compare the heart rate readings – just by twisting my wrist and the end of the ‘test’. The heart rate readings, always, are more or less identical. Another datapoint that the LifeSource seems to be doing everything right.

Not much more I can say. I have no complaints. I think of it as the best $20 I have ever spent. I used to dread having my pressure taken. This little unit changed that – and for that alone, I am thankful. I am sure you will like it too.

If you’re not aware of it, May is National Blood Pressure Awareness Month! And we want to acknowledge the correlation between walking and lowering your blood pressure. It’s been a well-known fact for a few years now that one of the best things you can do, besides watching your diet and salt intake is to exercise. And since high blood pressure can affect everyone, it seems that it hits our middle age population a bit more. It could be that the baby boomers and the generation X group, (Us I guess, those who were born in the late 70’s early 80’s), possibly get more frequent physicals where they then find out that their blood pressure is either too high or is approaching that danger area of being too low.

But recent studies have shown that an increasing number of young children are also being affected by rising blood pressure. In recent years, studies have shown that with the increasing number of young adults and even adolescents, that they are becoming increasingly overweight. Besides the rising obesity levels associated with eating fatty foods and foods with an abundant amount of sodium, their blood pressure is also spiking at dangerous levels.

The good news is that it can be controlled. Those of us and our children that deal with high blood pressure know that we should and need to eat smarter and exercise more. Unfortunately, our generation, our society, (American), and our children has turned into a group that no longer needs to do a lot of manual work for a living, and have instead turned in their hammers, farm equipment and mechanical and structural jobs for those that revolve around a computer and desk jobs. Which is fine, but our early American workers did more manual work and even though their eating habits were not the best, the compensation was, that they worked harder at their jobs, and in turn, burned off a lot of what they ate before it got deposited as fat and sugars inside our bodies.

Now, along with our desks jobs, our doctors and health givers have grown proficient in realizing with case studies, that a way to keep our blood pressure in check is to get our bodies used to physical activity again, and this can be done by exercising.

Now since your reading this blog post, you know one of our main focuses for our online store is the selling of healthy related products, Heart Rate Monitors, and Activity Monitors  and Pedometers

So you can see why we embrace this focus on May being National Blood Pressure Month and how a good measured, walking program, using a reliable and Accurate Pedometer can
help you get your body accustomed to moving again. But did you know that we also carry a line of accurate blood pressure monitors  as well?

Well, now you know. We carry the industry’s best in home blood pressure monitors, some of which you may actually find in a doctors or clinic’s office. We feel a tool/monitor of this caliber is important so that you can monitor your health on a daily basis if needed. Or just want to spot check your pressure in between doctor’s appointments.

Now, since we are talking about the month of May, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention one of the most important events which happen to fall within this month that also brings us those pretty spring, May-Flowers. It’s Mother’s Day!! And we have to ask you, what could tell your Mom how much you care about her than getting her, her own blood pressure monitor, providing you’re aware that she, in fact, does have high blood pressure. And if she does, we could recommend an easy to use a monitor that can determine your mother’s blood pressure by simply strapping it to her wrist. It’s the Omron BP652N Automatic Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor. Easy to use and it can recall up to the last 30 readings so your mom and you, yourself can get a good read on how she is doing. But don’t forget to make sure Mom, is doing her own physical fitness part by getting out there and putting a few steps behind her and keeping track on just how many steps she’s doing each day. She might even be able to join a club, or group of friends that like to get out and walk, maybe at an indoor mall, to help keep them walking when the weather doesn’t accommodate. Most malls today, offer this kind of social physical activity to encourage more people to visit the mall.

The bottom line is if your pressure is at the right numbers, then good for you. If it’s not, then get on board and get them there. We already mentioned a few good tips and suggestions above on how you can get those numbers down. We will do another blog post later on the best foods to eat to help decrease your blood pressure. But for now, remember it will soon be Mother’s Day, so besides the card, think about getting her that gift of “self-help-health” by gift wrapping that blood pressure monitor and go ahead and throw in reliable pedometer for good measure. This one, the Pedusa PE-771 Comes with its own belt clip.

And since your Mom is probably fashion conscious as well, it also comes in a variety of colors, to match her outfits. Smart thinking on your part!

Did you know that nearly 68 million people have high blood pressure in the U.S.? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, raises the risk for heart disease and stroke, the first and third leading causes of death. Moreover, it can contribute to many other health […]

According to Prevention Magazine, high blood pressure is one of the most preventable but most deadly health conditions. Not only can high blood pressure be prevented naturally through a variety of lifestyle changes, but it also factors in to more than 15% of all deaths in the United States. High blood pressure plays a part […]