ConsumerReports.com Describes How The New Blood Pressure Guidelines Affects People

East Sussex, United Kingdom - ConsumerReports.com is a popular website that explores product reviews and general information on a wide variety of topics including electronics, home and garden, money and health. A recent article on the ConsumerReports.com website highlighted the critical issues related to the new blood pressure guidelines. It examined a study called the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial and looked at suggestions from experts about how low people’s blood pressure should be.

According to ConsumerReports.com, for normal health the ideal systolic is 120 mmHg or less and a diastolic of 80 mmHg or less. The website report would also state that, “you’re considered to have high blood pressure if the systolic hits 140 or the diastolic goes to 90 or above. But experts have long debated whether those with high blood pressure need to get their levels all the way down to the ideal or whether somewhere below the cutoff for high blood pressure is fine.”

The article then looked at a study called the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (or SPRINT) which suggested that a “blood pressure level that is much lower than what is currently recommended for some people can significantly cut the risk of heart failure and death from heart problems.” This prompted some experts to suggest new blood pressure guidelines for those who needed to take medication and how low their blood pressure level should go.

However, according to the website, many experts said it was not known whether the SPRINT findings are relevant for most people with high blood pressure This was because the new study had looked at a small, high-risk subset of hypertension sufferers.

The SPRINT study was a government funded trial that involved more than 9,300 people with elevated blood pressure and a high risk of heart attack. Those in the trial were given medication to lower their high blood pressure. About half aimed to lower their systolic pressure to 120; the other half stuck with a goal of 140. Then the hypertension patients were examined to see what would result from their treatment.

According to ConsumerReports.com, everyone over 18 years old should be screened for hypertension. It is estimated that one-fifth of American adults with the problem don’t even know they have it. The recommendation is to get checked by a doctor or find out if you have hypertension by using a home blood pressure monitor.

According to the Amazon vendor Just Brill, they have released a cuff wrist blood pressure monitor ideal for this sort of testing. The product retails exclusively on the giant online portal
for under $35.