How to take your blood pressure correctly

Experts like Professor Isabella Sudano call high blood pressure the “silent killer”, because you can’t see hypertension and don’t notice the symptoms for a long time. “However, the consequences can be fatal in the long term,” explains Sudano, senior attending physician in the Department of Cardiology at University Hospital Zurich. “High blood pressure damages the blood vessels and the heart”. In Switzerland, it is estimated that around one in four adults are affected by hypertension. And many don’t even know they have it.

When blood vessels harden and thicken, it can lead to arteriosclerosis, which in turn can cause cardiac insufficiency or cardiac arrhythmia. It sounds dramatic – and it is. High blood pressure increases the risk of a heart attack or stroke.

How often should you take your blood pressure?

Blood pressure is a key indicator of your heart health. Everyone should be aware of their blood pressure and measure it regularly – either at the doctor’s practice or at home. How often is regular enough? From the age of 18, it varies from person to person.

• If you don’t have high blood pressure and have no genetic predisposition, once a year is sufficient.
• If someone in your family has high blood pressure, you should take the measurement once a month.
• If you’ve been newly diagnosed with high blood pressure, you should take the measurement every day for two to three weeks until the drug therapy works well.
• If your high blood pressure therapy is well adjusted? Talk to your doctor, but at least once a month.

Which monitors are suitable for measuring blood pressure at home?

It’s good to take your blood pressure regularly at home, but only if you have an accurate device. The measurement taken at the doctor’s practice is, of course, the most reliable. “However, good appliances for use at home don’t lag far behind these days, provided they are clinically tested and certified,” says Sudano. For example, ESH validation from the European Society of Hypertension or the seal of approval of the Deutsche Hochdruckliga (German hypertension league). Only devices that measure reliably are awarded these official seals. A CE mark on the device does not offer the same guarantee.

Should you take the measurement at your wrist or upper arm? It is most important that the cuff sits comfortably and is positioned at heart height. “Neither position is better than the other,” says Sudano. “Upper arm cuffs are often harder to put on properly. But they are automatically positioned at the right height by the heart.” Positioning is a typical source of error with a wrist cuff: the arm has to be bent and placed on the table so that it is not too far away from the heart.

Avoid typical errors when taking blood pressure