Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DBKC_95vO1b/ Where your arm rests while taking your blood pressure could deliver inaccurate measures of both your peak or systolic pressure and your baseline or diastolic pressure.  Inaccurate pressure measurements with your arm at your side or in your lap can adversely affect blood pressure medication dosing. Reporting their work in JAMA Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins researchers tested 133 adults comparing pressure measurement with the cuffed arm hanging down or resting in the lap with the proper positioning resting on a surface at the heart’s level.  A hanging arm overestimated the systolic pressure by 6.5 mmHg and the diastolic pressure by 4.4 mmHg.  An arm in the lap yielded overestimates of about 4 mmHg for both measurements. Everyone should be measuring their blood pressures regularly at home with relatively cheap automatic pressure cuffs.  Maintaining a normal blood pressure is critical for preventing a devastating stroke and avoiding heartbreaking dementia.