Blood pressure monitoring, as we know it.
We all know the phrase “know your numbers” too well.
However, there is more to blood pressure than those three numbers. In fact, the BP you know, the brachial BP, is just the tip of the iceberg.
There is a whole lot more under the surface to consider.
We have been using cuff-based methods to measure blood pressure for over 100 years and it is today the most common procedure performed in clinical practice.
Recent studies confirmed that current BP monitoring is plagued with problems and patients, the industry and forward thinkers have called for a transformation in blood pressure monitoring.¹ ² Alarmingly, hypertension is controlled in less than a fifth of patients worldwide.³ The publication “Size of The Prize” painted the same picture for the UK with 20% of patients for every surgery in the UK diagnosed with hypertension, were uncontrolled and above 150/90 mmHg. The BHF confirmed these figures to be underestimated.
The situation in Wales were somewhat concerning. At 140/90 mmHg, more than a quarter (26.85%) of those screened in Wales were hypertensive and almost three in five (58.5%) of people with raised blood pressure were unaware that they were hypertensive.
Thirty five percent of people with hypertension had received antihypertensives but more than half (51.2%) were still uncontrolled.
This data highlights the critical need for a systematic BP screening and monitoring programme not only in Wales, but in the whole of the UK. (Journal of Human Hypertension 2022)
The New Local report (July 2022) identified that it is critical for the NHS's survival that the focus should be directed to preventative health care. Illness should be prevented happening in the first place. The individual should play a role in prevention.