May 17th is World Hypertension Day and the theme for this year is “Know Your Numbers”. The goal of the day is increasing awareness of systolic and diastolic blood pressure values (systolic is the “top” number and diastolic is the “bottom”). If you’re like most people, your blood pressure is checked along with your temperature and weight nearly every time you see the doctor. Having your blood pressure taken has become so rudimentary for many of us that it can become easy to ignore until it becomes a problem. But what if you don’t visit the doctor regularly?

The American Heart Association just released a scientific statement on blood pressure (BP) measurement that outlines new guidelines for accurately measuring blood pressure. This is the first time the AHA has made significant updates to their recommendations since 2005. In the statement they describe and compare different methods of measuring BP and make many recommendations. What are the key points that a physician should learn from this new paper?

In my last blog, I introduced some of the claims and confusion around the NIH Sprint study but today I’d like to clear up the main point of confusion and discuss the actual blood pressure (BP) reading technique used to obtain the SPRINT study’s “research readings”.

We will be examining the SPRINT claims of benefit to medicating to a Systolic BP of 120 mmHg, but that will be for another day. Today the focus is on BP averaging, how it was implemented in the SPRINT study, and why it makes sense even if you aren’t sold on the SPRINT findings.

Should you take medication in order to acheive a Blood Pressure of 120/80? The SPRINT trial (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial) originally published in 2015 is the NIH’s landmark blood pressure (BP) lowering trial. According to the NIH press release (bold emphasis mine),

"When SPRINT was designed, the well-established clinical guidelines recommended a systolic blood pressure of less than 140 mm Hg for healthy adults and 130 mm Hg for adults with kidney disease or diabetes. Investigators designed SPRINT to determine the potential benefits of achieving systolic blood pressure of less than 120 mm Hg for hypertensive adults 50 years and older who are at risk for developing heart disease or kidney disease." ⁽¹⁾

September 29th is World Heart Day and the World Heart Federation is letting you share your activity on their worldwide map. Whether you are running for someone you know, spreading awareness or just getting your blood pressure checked, let the world know at world-heart-federation.org.