Commonly Asked Questions - Walgreens BA-716W 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.
4
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.
Borderline
Normal
systolic
diastolic
pulse
Hypertension
5