Two news items about high blood pressure that should
interest anyone with a blood pressure problem, which is most of us.
First, one study concluded that contrary to earlier
reports, insomnia does not lead to higher blood pressure, which is great
news for the reported 30 % of people who have a sleeping problem.
And second, a warning from the US FDA about the use of
blood pressure machines in kiosks.
According to the FDA, since kiosk BP machines tend to use
only a single size of blood pressure cuff, they may both underestimate (if the
cuff is too large such as may be the case for smaller people) or over-estimate
(if the cuff is too small which is the case for the increasingly larger number
of significantly overweight people out there) a person’s true BP.
So, says the FDA, best to get your BP measured in a
doctor’s office where the doc should be able to measure your BP with a cuff that’s right for you.
But that’s only true, I’d like to note, when the doc is
willing to change her BP cuff and that isn’t always the case in a busy doctor’s
office, so if you’re a large person and you think you need a larger BP cuff,
don’t be afraid to politely and diplomatically ask your doctor if the cuff size
on her BP machine is the right one for you.
But don’t tell her I told you to ask.
