The issue is convincing one’s doctor that you are following the healthy lifestyle. They do not follow you around, they don’t even remember your name until they walk in to the exam room. So some judge based off of the BP number alone. Also, one doctor might say they are fine with a BP <140/90 if one’s other risk factors are low, and following a healthy lifestyle. Another doctor will say no, <130/80. Then there’s the general guidelines for ideal BP to be <120/80. I just read an article here on Substack where medical professionals were stating that the ideal BP was 90/60 and as it raises from there is when the incidences of all cause mortality can start to raise. Patients sit in the middle of all this and often, probably confused.
I think you’ve taken an honest approach in this article, most certainly by suggesting that the goal is not the perfect snapshot on a BP monitor (something very en vogue for people to post photos of). For one to lower all cause mortality with lifestyle is the goal. It seems many MDs cannot think beyond that reality if they see an elevated BP number.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. It's easy to get caught up with surrogate markers of health like blood pressure and cholesterol. If they were the only thing that mattered then nobody with normal numbers would suffer heart attacks or strokes. But that's not the case. Astute docs know there is more to it beyond the numbers.
The issue is convincing one’s doctor that you are following the healthy lifestyle. They do not follow you around, they don’t even remember your name until they walk in to the exam room. So some judge based off of the BP number alone. Also, one doctor might say they are fine with a BP <140/90 if one’s other risk factors are low, and following a healthy lifestyle. Another doctor will say no, <130/80. Then there’s the general guidelines for ideal BP to be <120/80. I just read an article here on Substack where medical professionals were stating that the ideal BP was 90/60 and as it raises from there is when the incidences of all cause mortality can start to raise. Patients sit in the middle of all this and often, probably confused.
I think you’ve taken an honest approach in this article, most certainly by suggesting that the goal is not the perfect snapshot on a BP monitor (something very en vogue for people to post photos of). For one to lower all cause mortality with lifestyle is the goal. It seems many MDs cannot think beyond that reality if they see an elevated BP number.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. It's easy to get caught up with surrogate markers of health like blood pressure and cholesterol. If they were the only thing that mattered then nobody with normal numbers would suffer heart attacks or strokes. But that's not the case. Astute docs know there is more to it beyond the numbers.