Whenever I’m in a store and I see one of those blood pressure monitoring stations I’m drawn to it like a moth to a light bulb.
It’s like a video game only the results actually matter.
I often take the reading over a shirt and am surprised that the gadget gives me any reading at all.
Recently I got a reading that was a bit higher than I thought it should be and I thought that I should really just get one of my own that can give me an accurate reading whenever I choose.
Those of you who know me know I love my salt (best salt you can get is from Wendy’s BTW. Those little salt packets you get with take-away meals is really finely ground – sticks to your food better). And I’m often asked if I have high blood pressure as a result. Never fear, for most of my life my blood pressure been classed as “Low Normal” and that’s partly why I want to keep an eye on it.
Anyway, I went to the Consumer Reports website (I maintain on online subscription so I can check things out before buying them) and found that the ReliOn Model HEM-741CREL, available at Walmart for about $40, is one of CR’s best buys at about half the cost of the other recommended models. It was out of stock on Walmart’s website but there was one, albeit in a slightly crunched up box, available at a local Walmart when we were there picking up some groceries.
It remembers the last 30 blood pressure readings for two people and can run on batteries or an AC adapter. I put in batteries to retain the reading memory so I can get an average over time for myself.
It comes with a “regular adult” cuff which I wasn’t sure would be adequate for me so I also picked up (for $10 extra) the large size cuff as there was only one of those left as well. It turns out that the regular cuff was just fine for both Michelle and I. So I’ll be returning the larger one.
Anyway, I tried it out and the results seem appropriate for me. I think I need to try this out on some other folks to make sure that the results are accurate for them as well.
Consistently my results 108/66 to 115/69 with a heart rate hovering around 50 – 52 bpm. Guess I need more salt, eh? 🙂
Thank you, useful information.
Marc, It sounds like you are very active and keeping your cardio-vascular system healthy.
It’s of interest that you mentioned your high salt intake as though your blood pressure should be up due to the high intake. Actually, your high salt intake may be suppressing your kidney’s production of Aldesterone. Aldesterone is one of the hormones involved in the blood pressure regulation system. Aldesterone along with other hormones will raise blood pressure. Read about it.
The med-community tells us Sodium can cause high blood pressure. Yet, Sodium helps suppress Aldesterone and so keep blood pressure down. Go figure, that is, after you read about it.
@non-doc – Hi Non-Doc,
from my reading. Aldosterone is produced by the adrenal glands rather than the kidneys. And I was unable to find a link between sodium consumption and Aldosterone production (I will admit I did not spend a great deal of time on this).
But, never fear, I hold in front of me a blood test report that indicates that, regardless of my salt intake, my sodium levels are within the normal range so I do not yet have an issue to be concerned with on that front.