Commonly Asked Questions - Walgreens BM-725W Owner's Manual

Commonly Asked Questions

Why Should I Monitor My Blood Pressure At Home?
By monitoring at home, you can manage your health between
doctor visits. Home monitoring also provides you with a
record of blood pressure measurements over time to give to
your doctor - a valuable tool in monitoring hypertension.
Home monitoring may also help alleviate White Coat
Hypertension. This term refers to the medical phenomena
which causes many individuals' blood pressure to be higher
when taken in a medical office setting. That's because many
times the stress of being in the doctor's office may cause
blood pressure to rise as much as 20-50 points higher than
normal. When monitoring at home, you can get a truer
indication of your blood pressure in a normal, relaxed state.
What Is Blood Pressure?
The commonly used term "blood pressure" refers to the
force or pressure that is exerted on the body's arteries
as blood flows through them. Each time the
heart beats or contracts it produces
pressure in the arteries. This blood
pressure is what moves blood through
the body, supplying oxygen and nutrients to every organ.
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Commonly Asked Questions
When the heart contracts it sends blood out
into the body. This force of blood within the
arteries is called systolic
pressure.
The pressure that remains as the
heart relaxes between beats is
called diastolic pressure .
Blood pressure is
recorded as systolic
over diastolic, as
shown here.
What Is Considered Normal Blood Pressure?
The well-respected World Health Organization (WHO) has set
forth the following guidelines regarding high (commonly
referred to as hypertension), low and borderline blood
pressure.
Normal
systolic
diastolic
pulse
Hypertension
Borderline
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