Nowadays, more and more of you are developing high blood pressure and are being given blood pressure medications for this condition.  And if you don't currently have it, the likelihood of developing it is greater than 2:1.  With all the pressures of life to meet deadlines, pay our bills and keep up with "the Jones's," it's no wonder people's stress levels are up.  And with the fast paced lifestyles we all lead, while eating on the run, it's no wonder our blood pressure is up too.

Allopathic Medicine will tell you it is normal to develop high Blood Pressure as you get older.  That's a bunch of non-sense.  It may be quite common for people to have it, but it is anything but normal to develop it.  It's actually an indication that two or more of your important organ systems are having difficulty functioning correctly.  These would be your Cardiovascular System and your Adrenal System minimally.

In an effort to help you understand what Blood Pressure is, and what the numbers mean, I'd like to take the time to cover the subject of Blood Pressure.  This way you can be informed when you go to your Medical Doctor, whether the doctor takes the reading, the Nurse or the Physician's Assistant.  You'll also know what questions to ask and you'll know how to accurately interpret what the numbers are that are being measured for yourself.

Proper Measurement

The first thing that is important to understand is how to have your blood pressure taken completely and accurately.  You'll want your doctor to begin by taking your blood pressure while you are in a relaxed, seated position.  Once this reading is complete, the doctor should have you stand up immediately and while the BP cuff is still attached to your arm, take the blood pressure again.  Then the doctor should have you lay on your back, still having the BP cuff on, and take the pressure a third time.

You may be thinking to yourself, "My doctor has never done that, and why should it be taken that way?  And if it should be taken in three positions, why hasn't my doctor ever done that before?"  A possible explanation for that question could be that blood pressure is taught within the first 3 weeks of schooling.  Then during the next 4 to 6 years, a whole bunch of other information is taught and so the importance of taking complete and proper blood pressure readings are forgotten or relegated to the back of the mind.  And in an effort to be thorough, the Medical Association typically delegates this duty to a Nurse or the Physician's Assistant.  And because of the way our Medical System is currently set up, the average doctor visit only lasts 3 to 5 minutes.  This makes it difficult to do all the necessary evaluating, treatment and questions with answers within that time frame.  So in an effort to be time conscious, human nature would decide it's better to take one reading to establish a baseline, then to do the complete evaluation in the three positions.  Unfortunately, the only true information you will get from taking blood pressure in one position is a reading called Pulse Pressure.

What Is Pulse Pressure?

Pulse Pressure is the amount of stress on the Heart during the contracting stage and relaxing or filling stage.  It is determined by looking at the difference between the upper Blood Pressure number during contraction, known as Systolic Pressure, and the lower Blood Pressure number during filling, known as Diastolic Pressure.  The Pulse Pressure gives the person an understanding of how hard their heart is working.  For example, if a single blood Pressure measurement of 128/72 mm Hg is recorded, one might think this is pretty good.  And by today's accepted standards that would be correct.  But by healthy standards, the Pulse Pressure would be figured out as 128 minus 72 equaling 56. 

Since a healthy Pulse Pressure should be somewhere between 30 and 50, if the number is greater than 50, the amount of stress on the heart between contracting and relaxing would be considered too great from a health standpoint.  This is because over time, the larger the gap between these two phases would be too much work, and therefore is unhealthy for the heart.  So even though the Blood Pressure would be called "healthy," ideally it isn't healthy at all.

Why Three Positions for Blood Pressure

To fully understand what something means, you have to have something else to compare to it.  For your GPS System to work, the GPS must get a reading of where you are currently BEFORE it can tell you how to get to the destination desired.  Without this information, the GPS does not work properly, if at all.

With Blood Pressure, you want to know what the blood pressure does in relationship to stress.  The easiest way to evaluate this is to subject the body to the simple stress of gravity.  This can be done by having the person

• Start in a seated position when taking their blood pressure.  Then have them
• Move to a standing position to see if the pressure changes.  Finally, repeat the process by going from a standing to a
• Laying down position. 

These simple changes in position subject the body to the stress of gravity, and the body responds according to its ability to handle that stress. 

A normal response would be for the Blood Pressure to increase 8 to 10 mm Hg upon standing up, followed by a decrease of 8 to 10 mm Hg when lying down.  Since the force of gravity would naturally pull down on all of the body and its fluids, the blood pressure would respond accordingly by going down.  But this is not ideal.  The body has a system, known as the Adrenal System, which is designed to off-set this response.  So when the body is functioning normally, the Adrenal System will respond with a normal increase in Blood Pressure, thereby off-setting the force of gravity, thus allowing the body to maintain it's equilibrium.  

Nowadays, if a person stands up from a seated position in a hurried manner, a very common response (not a normal one mind you) would be that the person might feel dizzy or light-headed.  This is called a "dumping" response, known as Ragland's Sign. This is a direct indicator that their body is not responding to stress in an efficient manner, and the Adrenal System is deficient. The longer it takes for the dizziness to pass, the more deficient the person's Adrenal System is, and the more out of balance the person.   Again, a healthy functioning body will compensate for this as I have indicated above, and likewise, the lessoning of the stress when going to a laying down position would naturally result in a lowered Blood Pressure.

What This Means To You

If you or a loved one is suffering from dizziness or feeling light-headed upon standing, even if it isn't all the time, it would benefit you to come to the office and have your blood pressure taken in three positions.  This will allow me to evaluate both the Pulse Pressure and the Blood Pressure helping the two of us know if 1) your heart is under too much stress, as indicated by a too high (greater than 50 mm Hg) a Pulse Pressure, and/or 2) if your Adrenal System is not responding correctly, as indicated by a Blood Pressure drop after going from a seated to a standing position.  Since this is an easy test to administer, it should be done at every visit to your Medical Doctor.

My Offer To You

If you've ever experienced being dizzy or light-headed upon getting up too fast, call the Office at 561-2225 and ask us to put you in for the Pressure Test. 

For All Current Patients, I will be happy to do this evaluation on your next scheduled visit.  Please remind me when you come in and we can spend a few minutes discussing your numbers and what you can do to help yourself have better Blood Pressure numbers as well as better Adrenal and Cardiovascular Health.  This offer is valued at $75.00.  But for the rest of July, the offer is FREE!!  But you must act now, because it expires August 1st.  Although it can be done any time, it would be best to have it done every 3 months or when you know your stress levels have increased, rather than waiting until you start to experience the light-headedness.  This is an indication your body is already malfunctioning, and an underlying heart condition is in effect.

For ALL Potential New Patients, this will be handled as part of your initial Consultation and Exam.  So why not call the Office NOW and schedule to spend an hour and a half having this and the rest of your health evaluated.  My examinations are completely painless, and very enlightening and educational.  Take the time to make sure there are no underlying health issues that you are unaware of.  You deserve to know.

As a gift for any Potential New Patient in the Pooler, GA area who decides to come to my Tuesday Night Free Health Care Class, I will be happy to include the Pressure Test service as a gift to you for attending.  The class begins at 6:30 pm on Tuesday and I spend about an hour or so answering any and all health related questions by the members of the class.  So if you have any burning health questions or are suffering with a health issue that medicine is not fully handling, why not take the time and sign up for the class.  Again, the class is FREE! Call the Office at 561-2225 and reserve your spot.  As class size is limited, we ask you to call for reservations.