Blood Pressure

dont forget 'white coat syndrome' so bp taken quietly at home 2 or three times in succession will give a more accurate reading. I once did a 24 home monitor at GPs request - he wanted to know why at 8.30am it had gone off the scale (I was bicycling up a very steep hill at the time!) I dread to think what he thought I had been doing. With medication I am 118/70 at the moment with 67bpm heart rate - tho at least 2 stone overweight. Dry January for me. PS 140/90 seems very high.

Charleygirl. My blood pressure is checked at the surgery every year and no medical professional has ever commented on it adversely, except the year it seemed to be creeping up around 140. I always ask what it is, and once I know it is still well clear of 140 I stop listening.

I trust my GP. The last time I took some mildly concerning symptoms to her I was subject to a battery of tests which discovered that I had several minor symptomless medical conditions that could not be treated, needed no medication and that I had probably had for decades. The tests shed no light on the original symptoms, they disappeared in the several months all the tests took. The only good thing to come out of it was that I get invited to the surgery once a year to see the nurse and have my blood pressure tested and blood and urine samples taken and if they show anything to worry about I am confident they will contact me.

I am in good health, why neurose about the fine detail of it?

With respect Jess that's .rubbish not true. What we put in our mouths can cause all sorts of problems health wise. If we stuff ourselves with sugars, alcohol, and so on our health suffers accordingly.

If, on the other hand, we chose a diet (in the widest sense of the word) which contains a high proportion of foods which are accepted as 'healthy' (again in the widest sense of the word) then our health can improve and certain conditions can disappear.

I do wish you'd stop pontificating as if you had some medical or other qualification which would qualify you to speak with any authority on the subject.

M0nica - it is the diastolic (lower) figure that is more important

I am sure it is, but as the current measurement, whatever it may be, has not caused my medical practice any concern, and they have expressed concern in the past when the figures were dodgy, why should I worry about it?

Advice from the experts

Anya I'll pontificate if I like. Freedom of speech.
Of course you can damage your health by eating crap.
But once you have developed a disease there is no evidence that any wonder foods will make it go away (with some famous exceptions like scurvy).
Ask any NHS dietician they'll agree with me. Ask a naturopath or similar and they will disagree with me. But they have no decent scientific evidence to support their views.

You are not qualified to dictate to others as you habitually do. Some people might not know this.

Who mentioned wonder food? Try to stick to what was actually said please.

Or perhaps simply make it clear you are just expressing an opinion.

If you've been checking out my qualifications in detail you'll probably also have figured out that they equip me more than adequately to assess and critique scientific evidence. Although I'll grant you I was not using scientific terminology above.

Maybe you should more concerned about the qualifications of people who recommend quack remedies for medical conditions because they have read it somewhere on the Internet.

Erm! Would you accept my qualifications if I commented? I'm MB.,Ch.B?

Cher. I have had high blood pressure since my twenties. I was told by a Spanish a and e consultant I was killing myself because of stress. It's all the adrenaline rushes. Not good for the body. He also said lifestyle only accounts for a small percentage of bad health. It's in the genes. My weight has mostly been average. Never smoked and hardly drink. I have always exercised. I hope this helps. X

Yes please Galen.

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Blood-pressure-(high)/Pages/Introduction.aspx best stick with professinal advice rather than those trying to sell you a blueberry cure-all!

Personally I am relying on red wine...I once read somewhere it was good for me

Naturally Galen you don't quack

You tend not to say much, galen, probably because you recognise better than most people just how complicated it is. ??

Ain't that the truth bags

katyK I don't think 140/90 is 'ideal' blood pressure. I think that's the reading at which doctors consider whether or not medication is needed. Not the same thing.
It seems to me that if someone has hypertension and they're overweight and don't exercise and eat a lot of sugar and junk food, making lifestyle changes may lower their blood pressure, whether or not they consume blueberries or other magic ingredients.
But it's possible to do all the right things and still have hypertension.
Also, if blueberries etc were really pharmacologically active, a) they would be dangerous for people with normal blood pressure and b)you can bet that the drug companies would have exploited them by now.

DH had to have regular medicals throughout his working life as he worked offshore a lot.

Right from his early 20s it was always commented that his blood pressure and blood sugar were normal but very close to the limit. Then he was not overweight, did not smoke, was a very moderate drinker, led an active life and had a good diet (I made sure of that). He started on treatment for high blood pressure at 40.

He has since put on weight, is less active and drinks more, although he still doesn't smoke and his diet remains good. He was diagnosed with diebetes in his late 60s, but it remains very mild and he is on the lowest dose of medication available. A friend, with all the advantage of a healthy lifestyle etc and as thin as a pipecleaner, which he has always been, has severe Type 2 diabetes and this is now affecting his eyesight.

Lifestyle can do so much, but high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes has always been around and in a number of cases has a genetic component.

This week my doctor has told me that I can come off the BP medication that I have been on for about five or six years. This follows a year of gradual weight loss from 12st to 9st and another year of maintaining the lower weight. I have lost the weight through the low-carb way of eating, but won't repeat the details here as it is all in the low-carb threads.
When the weight came off I started to get a few dizzy spells from low BP and my doctor has gradually reduced the medication. At her request I kept a record of my BP for the last three months and with this plus surgery readings of 110/70, I have now been allowed to stop.
I hope this helps the OP.

well done Mamie I am impressed - its what I need to do.

I can honestly say Granarchist that it has not been at all difficult. We get to eat the things we really enjoy and have lost weight without feeling hungry.

Losing weight may work for some but not for others. It is just down to the individual. My weight has never been that high, and I have lost a stone .....but even when I was a really low weight my blood pressure wasn't that low.
I have always eaten a healthy diet, I don't drink at all and I don't smoke, and i walk briskly for over 30 minutes most days, however, I am still on bp Meds and my bp stays up. Mine may be due to excessive anxiety but I have learnt how to breath and can get my pulse so it is in low sixties.....so I
believe it's down to genes with me.

I am sure that is right Yogadatti. My BP only went up as I put on weight with the menopause so it makes sense that losing weight has caused it to go down. OH has lost a lot of weight too, his cholesterol has gone right down and he has got right out of pre-diabetes, but his BP has only gone down by a bit. His BP became extremely high in his late forties and didn't seem to be related to much, except perhaps the stress of constant travelling around the world for his job.