Heart diseases and stroke, these are just a few of the health problems that are linked to high blood pressure, which means it’s important that you are fully aware of them. But equally as important is equipping yourself with the knowledge on the tool that you’ll be using to monitor your blood pressure.
That tool is called a blood pressure monitor.
It’s an intelligent and advanced piece of technology that’s not only fast and accurate, but at the same time, comfortable. Plus, it can also be used to monitor the effects of hypertension medication and detect masked hypertension and its symptoms.
The only downside? It conveys information via numbers and letters which may be difficult for some to understand. Worry not though, here’s what they mean…
SYS, DIA, and PULSE
Image via Shutterstock
Let’s start with what’s printed on the side of the LCD display of your blood pressure monitor; the abbreviations ‘SYS’, ‘DIA’, and the word ‘PULSE’. ‘SYS’ is short for systolic and it refers to the amount of pressure in your arteries when your heart muscle contracts.
‘DIA’ on the other hand, is short for diastolic, which is the blood pressure when your heart is in between beats.
The ‘mmHg’ you see on both ‘SYS’ and ‘DIA’ readings represents a millimetre of mercury, which is the unit of measurement used to measure blood pressure.
Finally, there’s ‘PULSE’ which indicates the number of beats your heart takes in a minute.
The numbers
When conveying results, the numbers you see on-screen are almost always shown one on top of another. The first two numbers represent diastolic pressure (top number) and systolic number (middle number). These numbers should always be read like a fraction (e.g. 118/78 mmHg as pictured above).
Both systolic and diastolic readings need to be within the prescribed normal range in order for your blood pressure to be considered normal. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), for a normal reading, the SYS pressure number should be between 90 and less than 120, while the DIA pressure number should be between 60 and less than 80.
Image via American Heart Association
So, a reading of 118/78 mmHg is considered to be normal blood pressure, while a reading of say, 125/79 mmHg is an indication of elevated blood pressure. Recent studies however, show that SYS or DIA pressure values above 135/85 mmHg indicate high blood pressure.
The symbols
Image via Collins International Trading Corporation
Besides the letters and numbers, your blood pressure monitor also utilises symbols to convey important information without crowding the display and making it hard to read.
One of the most important symbol to take note of is the ‘Irregular heartbeat’ symbol as pictured above. This symbol is displayed when your blood pressure monitor detects a heart rhythm that is less or more than 25% of the average rhythm and acts as a notice to consult your physician.
Other symbols include the ‘Heartbeat’ symbol that flashes at every heartbeat during blood pressure measurement and the ‘Movement Error’ symbol that displays if you move your body during measurement, promoting you to remain still and take another measurement.
Now that you know what your blood pressure monitor is trying to tell you, the only thing to cultivate is the habit of measuring your blood pressure regularly. After all, you can do it at your own time from the comfort of your home.
This article is brought to you by Omron Healthcare.