Blood pressure diary: what is it and how to fill it out

The diary is an integral part of training for patients with arterial hypertension at the School of Health. These are your notes for memory - what you need to know, be able to do and do so that your blood pressure does not increase and your quality of life is good.

What needs to be controlled:

• Arterial pressure
• Body weight
• Waist
• Waist/hip index
• Total cholesterol
• Blood sugar

Blood pressure (BP) control

Regular blood pressure monitoring is not only blood pressure measurement, it is also a set of measures aimed at reducing the risk of complications. If an increase in pressure is detected, it is recommended:

• undergo examinations recommended by your doctor;
• determine the risk of complications; pay attention to risk factors;
• follow the rules below regarding nutrition, physical activity, etc.;
• regularly measure blood pressure: at least once a year - in case of a single unstable increase in blood pressure discovered by chance; at least once a month - if you feel well, but have a tendency to frequent or stable increases in blood pressure; at least 2 times a day - in case of exacerbation, stable increase in blood pressure and poor health.

If the pressure rises sharply and a crisis develops

• It is necessary not only to measure blood pressure, but also to write it down in a diary or on a piece of paper.
• Call an ambulance doctor.
• Take fast-acting drugs under the tongue: clonidine (clonidine) 0.075-0.15 mg, captopril (Capoten) 25-50 mg, nifedipine (Corinfar) 10 mg.

If chest pain occurs (manifestation of angina), take nitroglycerin under the tongue.

Do not use ineffective drugs - papazole, dibazole tablets.

Do not sharply reduce blood pressure over a short period of time.

Further actions will be determined by the ambulance doctor.

General rules

There are also general rules for measuring blood pressure that should be followed by all patients, regardless of whether they use an electronic or mechanical device..

1. You cannot measure pressure immediately after physical activity , in a state of mental and physical fatigue. The patient must be in a calm state and in a calm environment, otherwise blood pressure and pulse levels will be higher than usual.
2. During the procedure, the patient needs to take a comfortable position . It is better to sit on a chair, move it to the table on which the tonometer will be located and begin the procedure.
3. Before the procedure, you should not drink coffee, black tea or other products with high caffeine content. You should also not smoke, drink alcohol or eat heavily.
4. In the morning, measurements are taken immediately after waking up before breakfast, at lunch - before eating, and in the evening - before bed after performing the necessary procedures (brushing your teeth, washing your face, showering).
5. When using a mechanical blood pressure monitor, it is necessary to minimize ambient noise so that you can focus on and listen to the phonendoscope.
6. The arm on which the cuff is being placed must be completely free of clothing..

Which device should you choose?

There is an opinion that mechanical devices measure pressure more accurately. This is actually not true. Mechanical and electronic devices work equally accurately, because their operating principles are the same.

But it will be more difficult for an inexperienced patient to use a mechanical device at home without special training and education. The ideal option for this would be an electronic tonometer operating in automatic or semi-automatic mode. All measurements are carried out automatically, making it easier to use. Professionals can choose any tonometer. It is noteworthy that in city clinics, specialists have mechanical devices because this is specified in the regulations, and not at all because of their high accuracy.

Doctor's orders and recommendations

Following your doctor's recommendations will help:

• get rid of the disease if the pressure rises slightly;
• achieve a reduction in blood pressure faster and reduce the dose of medications if there is a persistent increase in blood pressure.

Principles of rational nutrition

Balance of energy intake from food (energy intake) and energy expenditure per day.

Balance of nutrients.

Proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals must be supplied in sufficient quantities and in certain proportions.

Diet.

It is advisable to eat at least 4-5 times a day, at the same time, without overeating before bed.

Limiting salt consumption Consume no more than 5 g of table salt per day (a level teaspoon), increase the consumption of foods rich in potassium salts to 5-6 g.

Which foods are not recommended?

Fatty meats, strong meat broths, beef, lamb, pork fat, butter, mayonnaise, internal organs of animals, brains, caviar, lard, cream, baked goods, cream cakes, spicy, salty, fatty snacks, cocoa, chocolate, butter ice cream, alcoholic drinks.

What foods are recommended?

Bread and bakery products: bran, with phosphatides, salt-free, fortified.

Soups: vegetarian, fruit, dairy. Meat and fish dishes: low-fat varieties. Fruits, berries, dessert: any, a lot.

Dishes and side dishes from cereals and pasta: porridge, puddings, casseroles.

Eggs: white steamed omelettes.

Dairy products: low-fat varieties.

Fats: vegetable oil in salads.

Drinks: weak tea, juices, kvass, rosehip infusion, herbs.

Snacks: unsalted cheeses, low-fat sausages, vinaigrettes and salads.

Sauces: milk, vegetable broth, fruit, berry.

Bad habits, what to do

Smoking. Nicotine contained in cigarette smoke excites, increases the load on the heart, causes vasoconstriction, and increases blood pressure.

Alcohol. Under the influence of alcohol, control over your well-being is lost, and increased blood pressure becomes more dangerous. It is advisable to stop drinking alcohol. If this is difficult to do, you need to know that doses of alcohol of more than 30 g for men (this is a glass of vodka or cognac, a glass of wine, a can of beer) and more than 15 g for women per day, in terms of pure alcohol, are dangerous for arterial hypertension.

Analysis of readings

Every two or four weeks, the blood pressure data recorded in the self-monitoring table is analyzed. Based on the results, the doctor calculates the average values.

The analysis allows you to monitor the state of the cardiovascular system and make timely changes to treatment therapy. You can calculate the average yourself or entrust this procedure to a specialist.

Normally, the average value should be within 120/75 mmHg. Art. If the values ​​have been elevated for several weeks, then they speak of hypertension. In the case where the pressure increased significantly only on some days, it is possible that we are talking about a hypertensive crisis. In this case, the column where the factors provoking high blood pressure were noted will help.

The benefits of physical activity. Self-control

Before you begin any physical activity, consult your doctor. At the height of the load, the pulse should not exceed 110-130 beats per minute.

Exercises should not provoke shortness of breath, profuse sweating, general weakness, or heart pain. The appearance of these symptoms indicates inadequacy of the loads and is a signal to reduce the intensity of the load and re-consult a doctor.

Warning! If your well-being after exercise worsens significantly (sleep, appetite, performance are disturbed, discomfort appears), then this requires a reduction in loads and repeated consultation with a specialist.

How to start moving more

Entering the physical activity regime should be done gradually - the less physically active you are, the slower you should increase the load.

You should try to maintain regularity of classes 3-5 times a week. The most realistic way to start with measured walking in a training mode is a fast pace without stopping (approximately 120 steps per minute).

You need to start gradually, increasing the pace and distance of walking, having determined the initial individual limit of walking at a normal pace until you stop (fatigue, shortness of breath, pain, etc.). How to estimate body weight To easily determine the presence of excess weight, it is recommended to use the formula for men “height - 100”, for women “height - 105” or tables for determining normal body weight. It is very important to maintain a balance between the energy we receive from food and the energy expenditure of the body.

Smartphone application

Now you can use specially created software for mobile devices as a diary for hypertensive patients.
The most popular is the special ICare application - the program can be used both as a diary and as an activity tracker, as well as a clear, step-by-step guide to some exercises. As diary entries, it makes sense to keep records, for example, of glucose and temperature, and in automatic mode, through the use of a camera, you can measure blood pressure, pulse, PWV and some other physiological constants. So, thanks to scientific and technological progress, monitoring key biometric indicators has become much easier and more accessible. But it would be very good to measure blood pressure some time immediately after taking the antihypertensive effect of drugs, especially since now there is an excellent opportunity to control, enter and monitor indicators online.

A table for measuring blood pressure is the most important element in the management tactics of any hypertensive patient, and a responsible attitude towards one’s health is the basis for stabilizing hypertension.

Where to start losing weight

Step 1 is to analyze the causes of excess body weight. Start keeping a food diary and continue for at least one week.

Step 2 is to assess the compliance of energy intake with recommendations for reducing calorie intake to reduce body weight. Draw your own conclusions and, if energy intake was high, evaluate which products could be excluded.

Step 3 - start taking action. To lose weight, you need to balance your caloric intake and increase physical activity. It makes the most sense to start normalizing your weight by reviewing your eating habits and composition, losing a few extra pounds, and to achieve a more stable normal weight, you can start exercising.

Diary design options

When filling out a diary, the most convenient option is to use tables. Of course, you can think up your own method, but there are already proven methods that allow you to make notes that are understandable to both the patient and the doctor. Consider two options for caps for the table for measuring blood pressure for every day.

This version of the diary is more suitable for those who, due to certain circumstances, are constantly at home. This is explained by the fact that here pressure is measured at any time of the day, indicating the date and time. Also, such a table can be used if a person at work has the opportunity to take measurements in a calm environment.

Patients should keep a blood pressure diary regularly

There is another popular option for creating a table header for keeping a blood pressure control diary.

This option for keeping a diary is suitable for absolutely everyone. In this case, you can measure blood pressure in the morning, immediately after waking up, and in the evening. It is better to decide which table to use together with your doctor. For some patients, measuring blood pressure twice is not enough, so the first table would be more appropriate.

Blood pressure should be measured regularly, adhering to the established schedule.

Tip: in order to remember to measure your blood pressure every day, it is recommended to tie the procedure to a specific action, for example, immediately after waking up and in the evening after dinner.

Considering the age of modern technology, we should not forget about electronic media. Instead of a notebook, it is quite possible to use a table created in Excel. In this case, you can also choose the hat that is convenient for you. In addition, you can create your own table with automatic date and time placement. If necessary, such a diary can be printed and shown to the doctor.

Stress

It is almost impossible to avoid many conflict situations, but you can learn to treat them correctly and neutralize them. The worst way to “discharge” is to take out your resentment and anger on loved ones, which causes double harm.

It is necessary to avoid overwork, especially chronic fatigue.

Alternate between mental and physical work.

The tips and rules outlined above can be supplemented by individual recommendations from the attending physician, which must be recorded in the diary.

Examples of diary tables

The table that should be contained in the diary of self-monitoring of blood pressure levels can be of any form. The patient has the right to compose it in the way that is convenient for him. The main thing is that it contains the lines necessary to enter all the important information about the state of pressure. If a person does not know how to create a table, he can consult his cardiologist about this. The doctor will provide the patient with a template that, in his opinion, is most successful.

The table can be kept in a regular notebook. However, today many patients prefer more modern options, which involve the use of special computer programs. It is convenient to make such records in Googledoc or Excel. These programs save important information and carry out necessary operations that are specified by the user. In addition, pressure monitoring diaries in this form can be sent to a doctor without necessarily making an appointment with him.

Below are good table templates for a diary.

Source https://gipertoniya.guru/izmerenie/dnevnik-kontrolya-arterialnogo-davleniya/

Everyone who has been diagnosed with hypertension, even at the initial stage, is required to keep a blood pressure diary. The values ​​of morning and evening blood pressure are recorded there.

Scientists have proven that the patient’s involvement in the treatment process significantly increases his interest in recovery and helps improve the body’s condition.

Arterial hypertension is a disease that requires constant monitoring. To maintain normal blood pressure readings, daily measurements must be taken periodically. This is difficult to achieve in a hospital setting, so experts are increasingly advocating home control of blood pressure surges.

Pressure is a variable value even in a healthy person; it is impossible to assess the patient’s condition using single measurements. Considering the duration of observation, the measurement results must be recorded in a personal diary in the form of a table. Records will be needed to visit a cardiologist. They will help make the correct diagnosis and prescribe the most appropriate treatment.