-=> Quoting Bob Lawrence to John Tserkezis <=-

Hello Bob,

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

 AFAIK, I don't have any blockages, (at my age I would bloody well hope not!).
 
 BL> If you are under stress, the systolic value shoots up... but then
 BL> the diasystolic comes up to meet it over a while. The trouble is that
 BL> you can't "feel" it.

 I've not been able to *reliably* tell from feel alone.  It sometimes goes both
ways too.  "Feel" only works on the extremes as far as I have observed.
 
 BL> There are two reasons for close numbers... nice soft, flexible
 BL> arteries that absorb the pulse of blood, or a totally relaxed attitude
 BL> to things. I tend to run a 60 differential which I would rather be 50.
 BL> Oddly, what upsets me most is the TV news and fuckin politicians. It
 BL> can climb to 80! It's pretty harmless for short periods.
 
 You can try not watching the box. :-)

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

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

 Yeah, I've noticed that as well, you have to take the average over several
days to be able to come to any real conclusion.  There are other factors as
well though, just after and just before you've been to the loo, when you eat,
what you've been doing just before the measurement.  Most important is the
sitting position when measuring, you have to sit properly at a table, any arm
will do, although I've been told the left works better.  Same as far as I've
been able to tell though.
 
 BL> The human average is 72.

 Oh good, then I'm "normal" for a human.  I was told 70 was fucked.
 
 JT> I don't know if she's doing something right, or me wrong...

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

 I suspected this, although haven't been able to prove it.  My father has a
rather high resting rate.
 
 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.

 BL> That's only borderline hypertensive for a 40 year-old, but it's
 BL> better lower.

 That puts too far away on the wrong side of borderline for a 23 YO.  Which
was I think when he first noticed it.

 BL> 125/83 is okay... in fact the low differential means you
 BL> are not asking much of your heart. 130/80 is normal.

 Cool, then most of the time I'm just fine.
 
 JT> And I STILL can't put my finger on what makes it go bonkers.

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

 As you said, averages have to be taken.  If you see a consistent high for a
few days, you can be sure something is up somewhere.


John Tserkezis, Sydney, Oz. Fidonet: 3:712/610  Internet: jt{at}suburbia.com.au

... Hey!  Pull my finger.
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