Normal blood pressure values for adults are:

<135/85 mmHG during the day and <120/75 mmHG during the night

Diagnosing a hypertension could be difficult because some people have high blood pressure readings only after hours or at night and a single blood pressure measurement in a Doctors surgery could be still within a normal range. Plus cardiovascular risk (heart attacks and strokes) is increased if the difference in day-night mean blood pressure values is less than 10%.

On the other hand up to 20% of people with completely normal blood pressure values have elevated blood pressure when they have it checked by the Doctors (so-called “White Coat” hypertension).

Measuring the blood pressure during a 24 hour period can be particularly useful as well for identifying the influence of physical activity and daily life stress on blood pressure, assessing apparent drug-resistant hypertension and reinforcing the requirement for antihypertensive drug therapy to keep blood pressure levels within appropriate ranges.

That is why in the assessment of all possible new cases of hypertension and for monitoring of the efficacy of treatment of patients with established cases of hypertension it is important to assess the variations in blood pressure during a 24 hour period. At the Majellan Medical Centre we have a state-of-the-art German monitoring equipment that can be applied in the morning from Monday to Thursday. A blood pressure cuff would be put on patient’s non-dominant arm. The cuff is connected to a portable monitor attachable to the belt. The Monitor will measure at 30 min intervals from 8 am to 10 pm and every hourly from 10 pm to 8 am. At night time the belt should be removed and the pouch can be placed under pillow.

During the monitoring patients are encouraged to perform all normal activities apart from vigorous exercise, swimming and taking a shower. The patient should not bend his arm while the cuff is inflating. In a rare case if the patient could not tolerate the cuff and monitor they can be easily removed by the patient.

Patients return to Surgery on the following day at the same time to remove the monitor. They will have a printed copy of the blood pressure readings and will discuss with the doctor the implications of their blood pressure readings.