Changes to our lifestyle and diet today mean that a growing number of people suffer from hypertension and it is crucial that we all monitor our blood pressure on a regular basis. Luckily this no longer means having to trek to the doctors surgery and the large range of simple to use and reasonably inexpensive monitors available today means that we can record our blood pressure in the comfort of our own homes. Nonetheless, whilst measuring our own pressure might be easy enough, understanding the resulting numbers is not always so easy.

Blood pressure will differ from one person to the next and also fluctuates with such things as what we eat and the time of day. Accordingly we are not able to say that normal blood pressure is a fixed set of numbers and that if you are more than a given number of either above or below these you need to see your doctor. What we are able to do however is to draw up a series of bands which denote varying degrees of low and high blood pressure in relation to a set of baseline readings which apply to the vast majority of the population and that is just what a blood pressure chart does.

A standard blood chart is a pictorial representation of a wide range of blood pressure readings below and above the norm with advice on what the bands tell you about your blood pressure.

For example, if you were to take a blood pressure reading and come up with a systolic reading of 135 and a diastolic reading of 86, it is quite possible that this will not mean very much to you, apart from the fact that it might appear a bit high. But, if you draw a line on a blood pressure chart between the higher systolic reading on the left of the chart and the lower reading on the right of the chart you will discover that this line falls in a band which is slightly above normal and that, while it is approaching the borderline for hypertension, it is nevertheless still within an acceptable range.

Similarly, if you were to record a reading of 149 over 98 this would be classed as a mild case of hypertension. Nevertheless, the chart would also show that this reading on its own should not be a cause for worry and might simply result from taking your blood pressure first thing in the morning when pressure is frequently slightly raised or of measuring it shortly after eating something with a high fat content or which is salty.

Charts of this type are extremely helpful in providing you with a snapshot of the state of your pressure at a given moment but possibly a more useful chart would be a daily blood pressure chart which is plotted over a reasonable period of time.

The majority of modern blood pressure monitors have the ability to store your readings and they can either be printed out and plotted by hand on graph paper or can be used in conjunction with one of several widely available software programs to draw a colorful history of your blood pressure over the past few weeks.

Whichever method you choose there is no question that having a pictorial representation of your blood pressure readings over time can certainly make monitoring your health considerably easier. TheBloodPressureCenter.com provides information on home blood pressure monitors and on using a blood pressure chart

About the author: DONALD SAUNDERS
Source: www.amazines.com