When it comes to blood pressure, are you being misled and misread?
One expert maintains that the blood pressure reading you get at the doctor’s office is far from a complete or completely accurate picture of your health.
“I would never accept that a proper blood pressure assessment is based on a single blood pressure performed in the doctor’s office,” Dr. Stephen Williams, a cardiologist at NYU Langone, told The Post.
He noted that the blood pressure most associated with heart attack and stroke is not the blood pressure measured in your doctor’s office.
“The most relevant blood pressure is the blood pressure accurately measured at home,” he said.
Normal blood pressure is defined as less than 120 systolic pressure and less than 80 diastolic.
Stage 1 high blood pressure is when systolic is 130 to 139 or diastolic is 80 to 89. Stage 2 hypertension is systolic blood pressure of 140 or higher and a diastolic pressure of 90 or higher.
The American Heart Association‘s recommended position for an accurate blood pressure reading is feet flat on the floor, back supported with arms leaning on a surface, and cuff positioned at mid-heart level.
The organization also urges patients to avoid tobacco, caffeine, and exercise within 30 minutes before testing.
Williams recommends that all patients test their blood pressure at home for accurate results.
“This recommendation should make sense, because which blood pressure would you trust?” he asked. “A single blood pressure measure taken during the stress of a clinic visit or an average of representative blood pressures over the course of a few days in the place that you spend most of your time … your home?”
His advice is in line, or vein, with researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine, who say accurate blood pressure readings depend on proper arm positioning and that doctor’s offices regularly misdiagnose patients with high blood pressure.
Blood pressure discrepancies can result in the misdiagnosis of hypertension and patients being prescribed medication they do not need, which can create unwanted side effects.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 61.9 million US adults are on blood pressure medication.
BMI: another faulty measure
Williams was quick to note that BMI, or body mass index, is another inaccurate, outdated measure of overall health.
“You can have a high BMI and be a lean, muscular sportsperson. Or you could have a low BMI and thin arms and legs and have an obese belly,” he pointed out.
“Who is healthier in this example? The high BMI person or the low BMI person?”
The CDC defines obesity as having a body mass index (BMI) of at least 30. Experts agree that inactivity and obesity are common culprits of hypertension.
Rather than relying on BMI data, Williams recommends DEXA Scan, a technology usually reserved for osteoporosis analysis, in combination with VAT software that measures visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in the body.
“BMI is out. DEXA Scan with VAT analysis measures the amount of visceral adipose tissue,” he said.
“This is the fat tissue that is most important to the development of heart disease, stroke, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, and hypertension.”
For those who find out their blood pressure is too high, experts suggest exercising regularly, consuming a nourishing diet, maintaining a healthy weight, and quitting smoking.
Speaking of smoking, Williams previously shared the common lifestyle habit he says is as risky to your health as puffing cigarettes.
