Solution arrives for the quirky white coat syndrome

Health specialists tell us that high blood pressure often exists with no symptoms at all.  If left unchecked, however, it may lead to heart attack and stroke, as well as aneurysms, cognitive decline, and kidney failure.

For some of us, the blood pressure rises purely by the worry of a medical condition, and it can especially peak when talking to a doctor or a lab technician. If you are there to get your blood pressure tested, those results may constantly deliver readings of hypertension, when in fact the condition is just temporary nervousness.

“With concerns on the mind, many people are tense in a doctor's office,” says Dr. Michael Moss at LifeLabs, a leading diagnostic centre. “And, we are fully aware that this white coat syndrome might very easily be reflected in blood pressure testing. As a result, research technology has developed an alternate method for more accurate results in the peace of one's own home.”

If that idea seems more appealing to you, do ask your doctor about the option to wear a lightweight monitoring cuff—called Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM). Worn on your wrist over a 24-hour period, the cuff will take blood pressure readings every 20 minutes (less frequently overnight) to produce a more exact reading of your condition.

“The ABPM method is also good for any person who has persistently raised blood pressure readings for any reason,” Dr. Moss continued. “It has proven helpful too, for people with borderline readings at the clinic; for poorly controlled hypertension where drug resistance may be a factor; and for patients with target organ damage and other high risk ailments. There is even reversed white coat syndrome, where blood pressure readings are normal in the clinic, but raised in the patient's own environment.”

Healthcare providers tell us that poor weight control plus a lifestyle lacking in exercise, good nutrition, recreation, and restful nights, are primary triggers for high blood pressure. If this sounds like you, or someone in your family, there's no time like now to take the right steps to reverse it.

www.newscanada.com