Blood Pressure Pathway

Undertaking Home Readings

For anyone with a one-off reading of over 140/90 then 7 days of home readings should be undertaken. You can use a blood pressure machine which you have at home but we would only recommend using machines which wrap around the upper arm, not the wrist. If you do not have a machine then you can collect one from your GP surgery reception.

There is a specific way of doing these readings and you can find instructions and a place to record them on your GP practice’s website. You can also see on this page a video and a picture detailing how to undertake your readings.

Once you have completed your readings you can submit them online via your own surgeries website.

High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) is the most common long-term condition affecting the population in our local area. There are also lots of people in our area with undiagnosed Hypertension and it is important that we try and identify these people. This is especially important as you are often unaware your blood pressure is raised and untreated raised blood pressure leads to other issues.

Hypertension increases the risk of various other conditions and this risk can be reduced by getting blood pressure levels down.

Hypertension increases the risk of:

• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Kidney damage
• Vision loss
• Memory problems (dementia)

You can prevent Hypertension and help potentially treat it without medication by doing various things:

• Not having too much salt in your diet is important and there is growing evidence that reducing carbohydrates can help too.
• Not smoking - nicotine increases blood pressure - for support visit NHS Stop Smoking Service
• Reducing caffeine - caffeine increases blood pressure.
• Increasing Exercise - this reduces blood pressure, check out our support page Adult Healthy Lifestyles
• Limiting alcohol intake.
• Being a healthy weight - for help with weight loss check Total Wellbeing Luton 
• Reducing stress.

We do not make a diagnosis of Hypertension based on just one reading. Your average blood pressure is the best way to make a diagnosis and this means doing some readings at home.

If you have a reading at any time over 140/90 then further investigations should be done. There are lots of people locally who have had a raised reading but need further investigation. A one-off normal reading after a raised reading is not enough to reassure. An average of 7 days of home readings is needed to make a diagnosis or to reassure that your blood pressure is normal. Depending on your home readings further tests may be needed to decide if medication is indicated.