Hbpm-advice

CITY WALLS MEDICAL CENTRE
SAUGHALL MEDICAL CENTRE
HOME BLOOD PRESSURE (BP) MONITORING

You have been asked by your GP or nurse to have your BP monitored at home
for 1 week. An appointment should be made after the week for you to return your
machine and review your results. If you do not already have an appointment
please ask the nurse at the time of collection of your machine.
Instructions
When using Home Blood Pressure Monitoring to confirm diagnosis please follow
the instructions below
1. Record your BP twice daily, ideally in the morning and afternoon. Each time you record your BP, take two readings over 5–10 minutes, ideally whilst you are seated. Write the two readings in the correct boxes. 2. Record your BP for a total of 7 days. 3. Calculate the average systolic (upper number) blood pressure for days 2 to 6. Ignore the first day’s readings for this calculation.
4. Calculate the average diastolic (lower number) blood pressure for days 2 to 6. Ignore the first day’s readings for this calculation.
Please return the machine after the 7 days to allow other patients to use it. We only have a limited number of machines, therefore your co-operation would be appreciated. Please bring your results with you to your appointment, which is with: Doctor/Nurse. Date . Time. At: . If you have a home computer, and you would rather use an Excel spreadsheet to record and calculate your average blood pressure instead of the form on the next page, you can download one for this purpose from: http://www.citywallsmedicalcentre.nhs.uk/Data/Sites/9/media/documents/bpspreadsheet.xls HOME BLOOD PRESSURE MONITORING RESULTS

Patients Name: .
Date of Birth .
Start date (Day 1):.
Day 2
Reading 1
Day 3
Reading 1
Day 4
Reading 1
Day 5
Reading 1
Day 6
Reading 1
Day 7
Reading 1

You can record readings in the grey boxes but these are not used for calculating the average.

Total Systolic blood pressures for days 2 to 6 (24 readings) =
Total Diastolic Blood pressures for days 2 to 6 (24 readings) =
Average Systolic blood pressure (divide six-day systolic total by 24) =
Average Diastolic blood pressure (divide six-day diastolic total by 24) =
Information regarding High Blood Pressure

Your blood pressure is a measure of how strongly your blood is pressing against
the walls of your arteries as it is pumped around your body by your heart. Blood
pressure is made up of two measurements, one taken when you heart is beating
and pumping blood (known as systolic blood pressure) and another taken when
your heart is filling up with blood between beats (known as diastolic blood
pressure). It is recorded as systolic blood pressure over diastolic blood pressure,
for example 120/70.
If your blood pressure is 140/90 or above when it is measured in the GP practice
you might have high blood pressure. The medical name for this is hypertension.
High blood pressure is common, affecting at least one quarter of adults in the
UK. It often has no symptoms and many people do not know they have it. The
chance of developing high blood pressure becomes greater as a person grows
older.
If you have high blood pressure, your heart has to work harder to pump blood
around your body. This means that you might be at risk of cardiovascular
disease, for example a heart attack or a stroke. You might also be at risk of
damage to the blood vessels in your kidneys or eyes.
High blood pressure can be treated by making changes to your lifestyle, and with
drugs, both of which can help to lower your blood pressure.
Preparation for taking Blood Pressure Readings
• Rest for 5 minutes before measuring your pressure • Wait 30 minutes after physical exertion or cold exposure (even a brisk • Wait one hour after drinking a caffeinated beverage such as coffee, tea or • Wait two hours after a meal • Urinate or move your bowels, if necessary, before measuring your blood Treating high blood pressure with lifestyle changes
Diet and exercise
A healthy diet and regular exercise can help to lower you blood pressure. If you
would like some more advice, speak to your doctor or nurse.

Smoking
Smoking greatly increases your chances of getting heart disease and lung
disease. Please speak to your doctor or nurse if you smoke and you would like
advice on how to stop or contact the local NHS Stop Smoking Service – Tel:
0800 043 5134. Email: [email protected]
Alcohol
Cutting down your alcohol consumption, if your drink large amounts, can lower
your blood pressure and is generally good for you,
Salt
Reducing the amount of salt in your diet can help to lower your blood pressure.
You can do this by cutting out salt as far as possible, or by using a salt substitute
(which has a lower amount of sodium than normal salt). High levels of salt are
found in some processed foods, so it is good idea when buying food to check the
salt content by reading the label carefully.

Coffee and other drinks with caffeine
If you drink large amounts of coffee, tea or other drinks that contain caffeine
(such as cola and certain other soft drinks), you should cut back.
Relaxation therapies
Relaxation therapies and exercise can help to lower blood pressure. These
treatments are not normally provided by the NHS, although you might want to
find out more about them for yourself.
HPBM advice - City Walls Medical Centre, Chester April 2013

Source: http://www.citywallsmedicalcentre.co.uk/Data/Sites/9/media/documents/hbpm-advice.pdf