Nasty little surprise

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

A bit of history.

My entire life nurses would always check my blood pressure twice because they thought the readings were wrong.

I have always had the blood pressure of a seventeen year old.

No more.

Since I haven't had it checked for quite some time and my wife checks her regularly because of high BP I thought I should check mine Sunday.

160 over 95.

She went to a neighbors and got theirs.

165 over 95.

At the doctors office Monday 195 over 97.

Damn! Somewhere between 55 and 60 something broke in there.

I must admit that I did not realize how uptight nurses and doctors get about high BP.

I'm on a coupe of drugs and will get checked Thursday morning. Should be interesting.

Higher blood pressure is a NATURAL result of the aging process. As you get older the elasticity of your vascular system (veins and arteries) lessens. Therefore it takes MORE PRESSURE to get blood (and oxygen) to the brain. If you take blood pressure medicine to lower your blood pressure you can starve your brain of necessary blood and oxygen. Your systolic blood pressure reading should be 1 plus your age (152 if you are 52, 160 if you are 60, etc.)

The AMA makes a lot of money on BP meds.

20yrsinBranson

[myrc60]

Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson

Higher blood pressure is a NATURAL result of the aging process. As you get older the elasticity of your vascular system (veins and arteries) lessens. Therefore it takes MORE PRESSURE to get blood (and oxygen) to the brain. If you take blood pressure medicine to lower your blood pressure you can starve your brain of necessary blood and oxygen. Your systolic blood pressure reading should be 1 plus your age (152 if you are 52, 160 if you are 60, etc.)

The AMA makes a lot of money on BP meds.

20yrsinBranson

How do you know this? I am 47 years old with a regular BP of 135/90. My doctor insists that is high but has me on the lowest dose of bp meds. I have a waiver on my insurance for hypertension because of the bp meds; not because of high readings. Based on what you said...I'm really mad at the doctor's I've choosen in my life.

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by myrc60

How do you know this? I am 47 years old with a regular BP of 135/90. My doctor insists that is high but has me on the lowest dose of bp meds. I have a waiver on my insurance for hypertension because of the bp meds; not because of high readings. Based on what you said...I'm really mad at the doctor's I've choosen in my life.

I was listening to a doctor being interviewed on NPR one day and this was the topic of discussion. Up until a few years ago (when the pharmaceutical companies started really pushing the BP meds) doctors did not get concerned about high blood pressure in people over 40 until systolic hit close to 200 points. However, new "guidelines" were implemented that lowered the danger zone figure. Now if you have
anything over 120/80 you are a candidate for meds.

20yrsinBranson