May is National High Blood Pressure Education Month, meant to bring awareness about the risks of persistently elevated blood pressure and the best practices to prevent it. High blood pressure is a leading risk factor for heart disease and stroke globally. Awareness and education are keys to prevention and management of high blood pressure [1].
Know Your Risk Factors [2]
- Elevated blood pressure
- Diabetes
- Unhealthy diet
- Physical inactivity
- Obesity
- Over indulgence of alcohol
- Smoking
VitalTech offers solutions for Chronic Care Management and Activities of Daily Living, while the VitalCare app provides a place users can track vital signs, nutrition, medication, and participate in engagement activities. These features provide a full suite of tools meant to help manage health and wellness, including preventing or managing high blood pressure.
Tips to Prevent High Blood Pressure
- Check your blood pressure regularly. This can be done at home, during a medical assessment or by visiting a local pharmacy equipped for blood pressure readings. VitalTech offers blood pressure cuffs connected with our VitalCare platform for at-home readings that deliver results straight to your physician or caregiver.
- Eat a healthy diet. A good starting point is to adapt a diet that includes a variety of foods rich in potassium, fiber, and protein and lower in salt (sodium) and saturated fat [3]. The VitalCare app includes a nutrition module to easily log meals and review fat, carbohydrate, sodium, and sugar intake at a glance.
- Exercise regularly and maintain a healthy weight. 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week is the recommended amount of time from the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans [4]. We offer weight scales connected with our VitalCare platform to log and monitor weight.
- Do not smoke. Smoking raises your blood pressure and in turns increases risk for heart attack and stroke [3].
- Limit alcohol intake. To mitigate risk of increased blood pressure due to alcohol intake, men should limit themselves to 2 alcoholic drinks per day and women to 1 alcoholic drink per day [3].
Managing Elevated Blood Pressure
- Understand the correct steps to take your blood pressure accurately. VitalTech includes Quick Guides with our blood pressure cuffs to show the proper position, preparation of cuff placement, and timing for an accurate measurement. Our support team is available to answer questions or troubleshoot.
- Establish a pattern to measure your blood pressure. Taking measurements at the same place and time provides a baseline for better analysis. We make this easy with our devices, instructions, instant recording, and ability to share data in real time.
- Schedule a telehealth visit with your physician or caregiver as needed. The VitalCare platform has video conferencing and messaging capability to contact your doctor when you need them.
- Track nutrition, especially calories and sodium (salt). Nutritional content of foods you input in VitalCare are featured prominently in their module to easily keep you aware of where you stand for the day.
- Take medications as prescribed. The VitalCare medication module offers reminders and tracks your dosing patterns.
- Manage stress by connecting with family and friends while exploring hobbies and interests. VitalCare Engagement provides seniors a place to virtually explore their interests.
- Maintain a healthy weight. Choose healthy foods, exercise, and talk to your care team about other ways to reach and/or maintain a healthy weight [3]. Stay aware of nutrition and weight gain through with the VitalCare app. Proactively logging this information keeps you informed and making good decisions.
Elevated blood pressure is a treatable illness. It takes awareness, surveillance, and action. VitalCare is here to help facilitate prevention and management with our various modules.
