Is Your Blood Pressure Accurate?

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Other Factors that Affect Blood Pressure

•Be quiet. Don’t talk to the person taking the pressure. Take slow, steady breaths.
•Bare your skin. Don’t allow your blood pressure to be taken over clothing. Take off your shirt if you’re not wearing short sleeves.
•Avoid caffeine or alcohol the day before your reading. While each person’s reactions may vary, a cup of coffee or a drink of alcohol can alter a reading by 5 to 10 points.
•Admit to pain. If you have chronic pain, tell your doctor so that he or she can make a baseline gauge of your blood pressure.
•Skip exercise. Don’t exercise beforehand. Pumping yourself up can pump up readings as well.
•Check your cold medications. Read the warnings on labels to see if the medication may affect blood pressure. Some cold medications may raise pressure by 10 points.

New Device Lowers Blood Pressure
The air you breathe may help you calm down—and lower your blood pressure.
           
A device called RESPeRATE can help pace your breathing, which assists in reducing hypertension. Here’s how it works: You slide on ear phones and listen to music or tones from a device that resembles a portable CD player. The tones indicate when you should breathe in and out. After a few minutes of synchronizing your breathing to the tones, you should be taking fewer than 10 breaths per minute and extending exhalation. As a result, your blood vessels should become more open, which allows your blood to flow more freely.  

The FDA-approved device claims to provide lasting benefits after eight weeks if you use it 15 minutes a day three or four times a week.