Blood Pressure Monitoring
24-Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure (ABP) Monitoring
People with unstable blood pressure must keep regular track of it. If their blood pressure goes beyond the threshold value, they must contact their healthcare provider. One such process that helps you monitor blood pressure regularly is 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring or ABPM.
Blood pressure is the force that the blood exerts to enter the arteries. With each beat, your heart pushes oxygen-laden blood into the arteries so that it can reach every single body cell. The normal blood pressure of the human body is 120/80 mm Hg. Maintaining a healthy blood pressure is essential, as with this pressure, the blood supplies oxygen and nutrients to different organs of the body. A very high or very low blood pressure can result in various life-threatening diseases such as kidney damage, stroke, or heart attack.
People with unstable blood pressure must keep regular track of it. If their blood pressure goes beyond the threshold value, they must contact their healthcare provider. One such process that helps you monitor blood pressure regularly is 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring or ABPM.
What Is 24-hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring?
This is a method through which you can measure your blood pressure for 24 hours regularly. For this, you need a small digital BP machine that you can fix in a belt around your body. For measuring blood, connect it to the cuff worn in the upper arm. Its small size makes it suitable for a person to use while on the go or even when he sleeps.
This blood pressure machine records your blood pressure every 15-20 minutes during the day and every 60 minutes during the night. Along with that, it also measures your heartbeat. Based on this data, it creates a pattern. Your healthcare provider can study the pattern and diagnose any heart issues if there are any.
Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is suitable for people who have reported high blood pressure or have high blood pressure with medications. Also, people who have faced fainting episodes or have reported high blood pressure during pregnancy can use this.
What Data Do You Get with 24-Hour ABPM?
This blood pressure monitoring technique can help you know the following details about your health:
Average blood pressure in the last 24 hours (ideal reading is 125/75 mmHG)
Average blood pressure when you were awake (ideal reading equal to less than 130/80 mmG)
Average blood pressure when you were sleeping (ideal reading equal to or less than 110/65 mmHG)
It can also detect blood pressure. It is a percentage of systolic and diastolic readings above 140 mm and 90 mm during the daytime and above 120 mmHG and 80 mmHG during sleep. This blood pressure load is a strong indicator of your cardiovascular health and any associated risks.
It also calculates the BP dip during the night. Normally, the blood pressure of a healthy individual dips by an average of 15% when he sleeps. Failure to fall below this BP reading indicates the risk of cardiovascular complications.
What Are the Benefits of 24-Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring?
The ambulatory blood pressure monitoring technique is a very effective tool to measure your blood pressure correctly. Among its many benefits, some are:
As it monitors blood pressure for the whole day rather than one or two times a day, it gives accurate measurements. Normally, BP readings may not be accurate as they keep changing with the time of day and activity you are involved in.
It can avoid white-coat syndrome (a condition when your BP rises only when you reach a health care provider's office). Regular and unknowing monitoring can avoid that and prevent you from taking unnecessary medicines.
It can also detect masked hypertension. It happens when your BP is low at a doctor's clinic but otherwise remains high. If this condition goes unnoticed, it increases the risk of strokes and other health complications.
With the measurements taken over a day, your healthcare provider can analyze the effects of the hypertension medicines you are taking. Based on that, he can change your treatment plan.
How to Use 24-Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors?
First of all, get a 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitor machine as suggested by your healthcare provider. Once you have the product, you will find there is a small piece of equipment. There is a BP cuff that you need to wrap around your arm. You can connect the cuff to the device with a tube.
Read all the instructions provided with the device before using it. Once you wear the device properly, it will measure your BP at definite intervals.
You need to take care of certain things while you wear this device, such as:
Continue doing your daily activities as you do. You may have disturbed sleep initially, but try to ignore it.
Continue taking your medications as usual.
Do not bathe or swim with the device on your body.
Do not be involved in any rigorous exercise. Try to follow a routine that is healthy for your body as much as possible.
Conclusion
24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring devices are a great way to monitor your blood pressure in your normal routine. Besides avoiding white coat syndrome, you can use it to diagnose various BP issues. However, for the best results, you must get only clinically-validated devices.
With OMRON, you can monitor your health effectively and keep your health under control.
References
Blood Pressure Association (2008). 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). Retrieved from www.bloodpressureuk.org/BloodPressureandyou/Medicaltests/24-hourtest