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Old 09-08-2010, 02:56 PM
 
460 posts, read 3,547,154 times
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I was at Walmart with my 75 yr old father and he checked his Blood Pressure and it was 175/108 with pulse rate 53 BPM. He's in seemingly good physical shape having never smoked, doesn't drink and exercises including 10-15 mi riding a 10-speed at a fast pace without getting tired out. His diet is not real bad but the problem is he doesn't believe in doctors and refuses to see one or take mediation saying he's just ordered some natural remedy out of a Herbal catalogue. How concerned should I be?
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Old 09-08-2010, 03:49 PM
 
Location: Canada
3,430 posts, read 4,336,164 times
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Buy him a blood pressure monitor and have him take his BP in the morning, afternoon and evening. Do this for a few days. If the readings are always higher than 120/80 then get him to a Dr. He may need BP meds.
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Old 09-08-2010, 03:53 PM
 
9,408 posts, read 13,738,548 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tripod View Post
I was at Walmart with my 75 yr old father and he checked his Blood Pressure and it was 175/108 with pulse rate 53 BPM. He's in seemingly good physical shape having never smoked, doesn't drink and exercises including 10-15 mi riding a 10-speed at a fast pace without getting tired out. His diet is not real bad but the problem is he doesn't believe in doctors and refuses to see one or take mediation saying he's just ordered some natural remedy out of a Herbal catalogue. How concerned should I be?
Yes that blood pressure is high, but I think you should allow your father to do what he wants. He's an adult with all his faculties and it is his right to not see a Dr if that's what he chooses.
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Old 09-08-2010, 03:57 PM
 
Location: Canada
3,430 posts, read 4,336,164 times
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Originally Posted by Djuna View Post
Yes that blood pressure is high, but I think you should allow your father to do what he wants. He's an adult with all his faculties and it is his right to not see a Dr if that's what he chooses.

Yes but he/she loves his/her father and is concerned.
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Old 09-08-2010, 04:34 PM
 
9,408 posts, read 13,738,548 times
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Of course he's concerned, but dictating his father's life is not his role. All you can do is give advice and if he takes it, good, if not, leave it be.
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Old 09-08-2010, 05:36 PM
 
Location: Georgia, USA
37,112 posts, read 41,261,487 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tripod View Post
I was at Walmart with my 75 yr old father and he checked his Blood Pressure and it was 175/108 with pulse rate 53 BPM. He's in seemingly good physical shape having never smoked, doesn't drink and exercises including 10-15 mi riding a 10-speed at a fast pace without getting tired out. His diet is not real bad but the problem is he doesn't believe in doctors and refuses to see one or take mediation saying he's just ordered some natural remedy out of a Herbal catalogue. How concerned should I be?

Point out to your father that if he has a stroke, he will lose his independence. He may end up in a nursing home, and whatever savings he has will get eaten up very quickly that way.

Hypertension is never diagnosed based on one reading, and the cuff at WalMart may not be properly calibrated. As Lisalan suggested, you need multiple readings. If they are not elevated, all is well. If they are high, the medication he needs works well, usually with one pill a day, usually a very cheap generic.
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Old 09-09-2010, 12:04 AM
ino
 
Location: Way beyond the black stump.
680 posts, read 2,499,578 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tripod View Post
I was at Walmart with my 75 yr old father and he checked his Blood Pressure and it was 175/108 with pulse rate 53 BPM. He's in seemingly good physical shape having never smoked, doesn't drink and exercises including 10-15 mi riding a 10-speed at a fast pace without getting tired out. His diet is not real bad but the problem is he doesn't believe in doctors and refuses to see one or take mediation saying he's just ordered some natural remedy out of a Herbal catalogue. How concerned should I be?
Not concerned at all . The bloke obviously knows his own mind, and can make decisions for himself. He probly also knows he ain't gunna live to be 150. If his diet is good, and he's not sickly, leave him alone, he's happy and it sounds like he's no idiot. Good on him I say . Keep in mind that our organs etc will tend to deteriorate with age, {the natural way of things} and at 75 I'd say he's doing it pretty well, better than most others around him of similar vintage probly.
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Old 09-09-2010, 02:48 AM
 
Location: Ohio
15,700 posts, read 17,044,756 times
Reputation: 22091
Quote:
Originally Posted by suzy_q2010 View Post
Point out to your father that if he has a stroke, he will lose his independence. He may end up in a nursing home, and whatever savings he has will get eaten up very quickly that way.

Hypertension is never diagnosed based on one reading, and the cuff at WalMart may not be properly calibrated. As Lisalan suggested, you need multiple readings. If they are not elevated, all is well. If they are high, the medication he needs works well, usually with one pill a day, usually a very cheap generic.

You made me laugh..........you sound like me.

Don't forget........... "you will end up in a wheelchair, drooling and wearing diapers".

That's how I got my ex-husband to quit riding motorcycles................after our divorce, I was sure he would get another motorcycle..........he never did.
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Old 09-09-2010, 02:53 AM
 
3,631 posts, read 14,552,954 times
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I agree about the Walmart Cuffs. I monitor mine because I went off BP meds and MY cuff is spot on with the doctors cuff and about 30 points LOWER than our local walmart!
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Old 09-09-2010, 07:13 AM
 
Location: Mid-Atlantic east coast
7,125 posts, read 12,665,237 times
Reputation: 16114
My blood pressure's always high at Walmart, too. All that chaos raises it--and the cuff there is not the best. Measure at home over a couple of weeks and see how it averages.

BP tends to fluctuate, and at the Dr.'s office it may measure high, too, due to 'white coat syndrome.' So the home monitoring tells the picture a lot better.
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