Patients who have trouble controlling their blood pressure and newly diagnosed hypertension patients may qualify for a free blood pressure cuff to help monitor their pressure at home. The Purchase Area Health Department purchased 100 cuffs for Mercy Primary Care – Reidland to distribute to qualified patients.
Cari Wildharber, APRN, recently attended a conference in Washington, D.C. with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, ASTHO, to discuss the benefits of self-measured blood pressures or home blood pressure monitoring. Data presented at the conference showed the positive effect of self-measured blood pressure at home in helping to improve a patient’s overall blood pressure control.
“We are excited to work with the Purchase District Health Department in handing out these blood pressure cuffs to qualified patients who have uncontrolled or new onset hypertension,” says Cari Wildharber, Mercy Primary Care – Reidland. “Untreated hypertension is a contributing factor to major health conditions including heart attack, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure and many others. Studies show about 1 in 3 adults in the United States have high blood pressure and nearly half of those people don’t have their blood pressure controlled.”
Usually hypertension is defined as blood pressure above 120/80, and is considered severe if the pressure is above 170/100. Risk factors include family history, age, gender, race, being overweight or obese, not being physically active, smoking, a high fat diet, too much salt or sodium in your diet, drinking too much alcohol and stress.