Diastolic blood pressure (DBP): the “lower number” when BP is checked.It’s by far the most important number to consider when it comes to older adults. This reflects the pressure in the arteries when the heart relaxes. Automatic BP monitors report pulse along with BP. Hypertension: Usually defined as BP> 140/90, assuming the readings are taken in a doctor’s office.Doctors must evaluate a person’s heart rate when considering a change in BP medication.

(There is a slightly lower cut-off if the readings are taken at home.) If only the systolic BP is high, this is called “isolated systolic hypertension.” This type of hypertension is very common in older adults, as aging is associated with both increases in systolic BP and decreases in diastolic BP.Īs you can imagine, a key component of optimizing BP management is to measure an older person’s BP and pulse. Evaluate how well people are responding to a treatment plan, whether that plan involves lifestyle changes or medication or both.Determine how severe it is (which helps us all decide how important it is to intervene). Measuring BP usually sounds straightforward. One study even found that the “usual” way of measuring BP misdiagnosed 24-32% of volunteers! People assume it’s just a matter of finding out what the BP was at the doctor’s office, or getting a reading from a home monitor, or maybe even a reading from a health fair or drugstore.īut in fact, research has shown that a single office-based BP reading often does not represent a person’s usual BP. This is because people are often anxious when at the doctor’s office, which can temporarily raise BP. Studies estimate this “white-coat hypertension” affects 10-20% of people.įurthermore, BP is constantly changing a bit, moment to moment. So experts agree that it’s much better to obtain several readings and average them, in order to properly assess a person’s usual BP.įor instance, in the ground-breaking SPRINT trial of intensive BP lowering in older adults, the researchers checked BP by having participants first rest quietly in a room for five minutes. #EXTREME GHOSTBUSTERS GHOST TRAP TRIAL#.

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