JT> That's interesting actually. I was diagnosed with high blood
 JT> pressure a while back, and the quacks have been trying to work
 JT> out why since. I've been through all the tests, and passed all.
 JT> It's down now, and I've been trying to work out if it's been
 JT> the exercise, or the weight loss. (Both started at the same
 JT> time, so I don't know which one was of real value).

  As a gewneral rule, exercise drops the systolic (high value) and
weight drops the diasystolic (low), but they go up and down together.
When I started off, my BP was 170/110 and 10Kg later it was 150/95. Of
course, an artery in my heart was blocked as well... I suspect that
the poor old heart was trying to clear it. After the stent cleared the
heart I came down to 130/80.

 JT> The quack has been swearing it's the weight loss, although I
 JT> noticed a significant change in BP even early on in the piece
 JT> where I lost only a little weight.

  If you are under stress, the systolic value shoots up... but then
the diasystolic comes up to meet it over a while. The trouble is that
you can't "feel" it.

 JT> This is the other thing I've been trying to work out, what
 JT> exactly is the significance of the difference in the numbers?
 JT> Mine tends to be quite close, (relative to others anyway) where
 JT> other peoples diastolic is less than mine but their systolic is
 JT> over the roof.

  There are two reasons for close numbers... nice soft, flexible
arteries that absorb the pulse of blood, or a totally relaxed attitude
to things. I tend to run a 60 differential which I would rather be 50.
Oddly, what upsets me most is the TV news and fuckin politicians. It
can climb to 80! It's pretty harmless for short periods.

 BL> If you get angry or go off your head, systolic pressure rises
 BL> almost immediately, from 130/80 to 160/80 say, as the arteries
 BL> close up, and an hour later the two come together at around
 BL> 145/85 for a long time.

 JT> Haven't tested this, wanna discusion on radar traps? :-)

  You have to take a long-term approach to measuring BP. I measure
mine 6 times through the day to try and see the patterns. The most
consistent value is the one first thing in the morning. The highest is
last thing at night. It's mad. Sometimes I'll get angry and the BP
measures low. Another time I'll be perfectly relaxed and it measures
high... but on average it behaves the way you'd expect.

 JT> I've noticed this. After my bike run, BP drops quite
 JT> significantly, but heart rate stays fairly high. My resting
 JT> heart rate has always been high, I've never seen it below about
 JT> 70, yet my aunty who never exercises, is slightly overweight
 JT> (who would kill me if she found out I said that) has high BP,
 JT> with a heart rate (resting) of about 55.

  My heart rate has always been around 60, (130 during exercise) but
since the heart repair, recovery is really fast! The human average is
72.

 JT> I don't know if she's doing something right, or me wrong...

  I'm not sure that heart rate is significant. The fitter you are the
lower it will be, but I think the starting point is inherited.

 JT> I used to live with a constant 145/92 (or close) all the time.
 JT> I've dropped to around 125/83 (or close) now, and sometimes
 JT> I've seen it lower.

  That's only borderline hypertensive for a 40 year-old, but it's
better lower. 125/83 is okay... in fact the low differential means you
are not asking much of your heart. 130/80 is normal.

 JT> And I STILL can't put my finger on what makes it go bonkers.

  Me neither... what I wrote is about as much as I've been able to
work out after 4 months of measurements and quizzing doctors. The
frustrating thing is that I measure a high value and it comes as a
complete surprise! You just can't tell!

Regards,
Bob


    

  
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