High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a wide-spread condition with serious side-effects, including kidney disease and heart failure. Hypertension is considered to be present when a person's systolic blood pressure is consistently 140 mmHg or higher and/or their diastolic blood pressure is consistently 90mmHg or higher. Patients with diabetes should use stricter criteria in managing their blood pressure readings.

There is an estimated one billion individuals worldwide that suffer from hypertension and approximately 7.1 million deaths each year as a result of hypertension related illnesses.

Blood Pressure Monitoring at Home

Home Blood Pressure Monitoring (HBPM) may be useful in managing many patients with hypertension. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a wide-spread condition with serious side-effects, including kidney disease and heart failure.

Measuring your blood pressure at home and recording the readings will help you and your doctor track any changes in your blood pressure. If you are taking any treatments, your doctor can use the measurements to see how well you are responding to your medication. Potential benefits of HBPM include distinguishing sustained hypertension from white-coat hypertension, assessing the response to antihypertensive medications, and improving treatment response.

Diabetes and Hypertension

Patients with diabetes need to be more aware of hypertension since most tend to suffer from it and therefore run a higher risk at developing atherosclerosis, the process that leads to blockage of blood vessels. This means that the risk of a heart attack, stroke or kidney disease increases dramatically in patients. When comparing to the general population, diabetes patients' risk of cardiovascular disease is twice, and sometimes four times as high. Furthermore, hypertension accelerates the progression of diabetic complications, including diabetic nephropathy, retinopathy, and neuropathy.

FORA Hypertension Care Brings You Better Cardiovascular Control