Hypertension is a prevalent condition globally and is quickly becoming a focus in the U.K., with particular emphasis on how to best diagnose the condition. In August, a study comparing blood pressure (BP) measurement methods, which was funded by the U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), was published on the same day that NICE announced the release of its new guidelines for hypertension management in adults.

In the study, Cost-effectiveness of options for the diagnosis of high blood pressure in primary care: a modelling study, the research found that “ambulatory monitoring is cost effective compared with further monitoring in the clinic or home for confirming the diagnosis of hypertension” for all age and gender groups considered. Specifically, ABPM provided cost savings ranging from £56 in men aged 75 years to £323 in women aged 40 years (Equivalent to $89 and $511 respectively). Additionally, it was determined that ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) “resulted in improved health outcomes for male and female age groups older than 50.”

Dr. Henry Black, former President of the American Society of Hypertension, presents this very question in his recent video on Medscape News. While Medscape requires a free login account to view their content, we felt this report rather significant and worthy of sharing.

In the video article, Dr. Black points out that the practices of how we measure blood pressure are changing as technology advances and becomes more available. He also explains that while home monitoring is becoming more commonplace, studies of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) are telling us more about its unique prognostic benefits. 

That’s just the question Dr. Mark C. van der Wel and colleagues sought the answer to in an article published in the Annals of Family Medicine. As we at SunTech have mentioned in previous posts, two of the most prevalent problems with traditional in-office blood pressure assessment is improper observer technique and the white-coat effect.  As a way to overcome this, the authors developed a method of taking a series of in-office automated oscillometric blood pressure readings for 30 minutes by utilizing an ambulatory blood pressure monitor (ABPM) and compared those results with mean daytime ABPM results.

The New Year is upon us and a lot of us have declared to get healthier in 2011.  Whether you have started a new workout regimen or have changed your diet to consume more fruits and veggies, any change is good change, right?  Growing up in North Carolina, where we fry everything from chicken to green beans, I was never fond of eating healthy so my mother always stressed the importance of “drinking your juice” instead of so many soft drinks.  However, recent research may shed some light on the effects of juice consumption.  Being that SunTech Medical is your one-stop shop for blood pressure (BP) measurement expertise, let’s explore the effects juice consumption has on BP!

Traditionally, we try not to engage in excessive self-promotion on the SunTech Blog. But last month marked the 24^th anniversary of SunTech’s first journey into space, and we’d like to let our readers know about this important and interesting chapter in our history. In the pre-dawn darkness of January 12, 1986, the space shuttle Columbia blasted off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, carrying with it a special version of the SunTech Accutracker II ABPM device. When Columbia landed successfully at Edwards Air Force base after 98 orbits, it may have marked the end of mission STS-61C, but it was just the beginning of SunTech’s foray into space-based research.

A recent article in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension does a colorful yet effective job of describing the transient effects of White Coat Hypertension (WCH) when meeting  a new physician.  Studies show that patients who are not hypertensive but show high BP readings when visiting a new doctor for their first time can continue to present with these elevated BP readings for three to six visits.  Although treatment for hypertension based on these measurements is not recommended, the gold standard diagnostic test for WCH, a 24-hour study with an ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) monitor, can more effectively determine whether treatment is, in fact, needed.

At SunTech Medical, we’re always thinking about blood pressure (BP) and how current measurement tools and techniques might be improved. In many ways, “routine” blood pressure measurement hasn’t changed much over the last 100 years. But innovative tools like ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) have helped us learn about the importance of masked hypertension, overnight dipping, and blood pressure variability, their impact on clinical outcomes, and the subsequent guidance of hypertension treatment.

White-coat hypertension is a familiar term to most clinicians.  Patients with white-coat typically have elevated blood pressure measurements in the clinician’s office, but display normal BP measurements in their everyday environment.  The prevalence of white-coat hypertension varies from 15% to 20% of patients.  Conversely, there is another group of individuals whose hypertension often goes unnoticed by traditional methods of BP measurement.  These patients have normal in-office BP but elevated out-of-office BP.  This phenomenon is referred to as “masked hypertension” and is defined as having in-office BP < 140/90 mm Hg but daytime ambulatory or home BP ≥ 135/85 mmHg.

We recently came across a video report that originally appeared shortly after an article on the underdiagnosis of hypertension in children and adolescents was published in the August 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The focal point of the report was the fact that 3 out of every 4 children who have high blood pressure have not been correctly diagnosed with the condition. This certainly would prompt the question “Why not?”