World Hypertension Day - May 17 2020
World Hypertension Day is an initiative started by the World Hypertension League (WHL) in 2005 to raise awareness of High Blood Pressure or Hypertension.
FitTrack Australia is proud to offer a range of high quality & accurate Connected Blood Pressure Monitors that can assist in the management of Hypertension. And for World Hypertension Day 2020, FitTrack Australia is offering a 10% discount on our Connected Blood Pressure Monitors including:
- Withings BPM Connect Blood Pressure Monitor
- iHealth TRACK Blood Pressure Monitor
- iHealth FEEL Blood Pressure Monitor
- iHealth VIEW Blood Pressure Monitor
Use Discount Code: FITTRACK-WORLD-HYPERTENSION-DAY-2020
Long-term high blood pressure or hypertension is a major cause of vision loss, organ damage (eg heart failure, chronic kidney disease), and cardiovascular conditions (such as coronary artery disease, stroke, atrial fibrillation, peripheral arterial disease) and dementia.
Key Facts:
(Source: World Health Organisation)
- An estimated 1.13 billion people worldwide have hypertension
- In 2015, hypertension affected
- 1 in 4 men
- 1 in 5 women
- Fewer than 1 in 5 people with hypertension have the problem under control.
- Hypertension is a major cause of premature death worldwide.
One of the greatest challenges of hypertension is that most people who have high blood pressure aren’t aware that they have it.
But what actually is hypertension?
What is Hypertension?
According to the Australian Government’s HealthDirect website, Hypertension or High Blood Pressure is when “a person has a blood pressure reading taken on 3 separate occasions that is greater than 140/90, they have high blood pressure”.
How To Prevent & Manage Hypertension?
The World Health Organisation recommendations on preventing & managing Hypertension include:
- Reducing salt intake (to less than 5g daily)
- Eating more fruit and vegetables
- Being physically active on a regular basis
- Avoiding use of tobacco
- Reducing alcohol consumption
- Limiting the intake of foods high in saturated fats
- Eliminating/reducing trans fats in diet
The management of high blood pressure may include:
- Treating high blood pressure through medication to lower blood pressure
- Reducing and managing mental stress
- Managing other medical conditions
- Regularly checking blood pressure
The Importance Of Regularly Measuring Your Blood Pressure
In a study published in the March 10 2018 issue of the Lancet researchers found that those regularly performing home blood pressure monitoring achieved improved blood pressure control.
Referring to a study published in the JAMA, the Harvard Health Blog stated researchers found that “at every step of the way, people in the home monitoring group had more success getting their blood pressure under control than people who had received only usual care”. At the end of the trial, “72% of those doing home monitoring had their blood pressure under control, compared to 57% of the usual care group. The benefits persisted six months after the program had ended.”
Blood pressure is measured by a device called a sphygmomanometer. FitTrack Australia stocks a range of accurate and user friendly automatic Connected Blood Pressure Monitoring devices. The benefits of using a connected device is that the blood pressure monitors integrate into health tracking apps such as Withings Health Mate or iHealth MyVitals and can maintain a log of your blood pressure history, and even syncs with Apple Health and Google Fit consolidating your health data. This data can be easily shared with your GP, Doctor or Specialist. The Withings BPM Connect not only has a readout display on the device, but also connects via Wifi to the Withings Health Mate ecosystem, so you can track your blood pressure without requiring a phone or tablet to sync readouts.
Benefits of regular at home monitoring include:
- Helps with early diagnosis for those in a high risk category
- Helps track of the effectiveness of treatment or medication
- Encourages better control as it improves a sense of responsibility over health
- Helps to check if your blood pressure differs outside the doctor's office (ie ‘White Coat Hypertension’).
References:
- HealthDirect - High blood pressure (hypertension)
- World Health Organisation - Hypertension
- Stroke Foundation - Blood Pressure And Stroke
- Wikipedia - Hypertension
- American Heart Association - Monitoring Your Blood Pressure At Home
- MayoClinic - Get the most out of home blood pressure monitoring
- Harvard Heart Letter - The benefits of do-it-yourself blood pressure monitoring
- Harvard Health Blog - Checking blood pressure at home pays off
- JAMA - Effect of Home Blood Pressure Telemonitoring and Pharmacist Management on Blood Pressure Control
- Baker Institute - High Blood Pressure And Salt