Experts warn of link between falls and falling BP readings

As your blood-pressure readings fall… so could you!

If you’re confused about blood pressure, join the club!

You may be among the 30 million Americans who went to bed one night late last year with visions of sugar plums… only to wake up to the realization that you had high blood pressure.

Why, you’ve become a literal ticking time-bomb for a stroke!

But here’s the crazy part… your numbers didn’t change one bit. What did, however, is what’s considered to be hypertension.

A joint recommendation from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology warned that if you don’t get those readings down to the basement, you’re in big danger!

But as we told you back then, taking that advice to heart puts you in the crosshairs for some major heath disasters, such as suffering a stroke or losing your memory to Alzheimer’s disease.

Now, a group of prominent researchers at Kaiser Permanente is warning that by attempting to reach those AHA and ACC goals, you’re doubling your risk of taking a serious fall.

If your doctor has you on one, two, or even three BP drugs, it’s time to find out if your blood pressure really is high in the first place.

The Kaiser Permanente group found that if you’re taking BP meds and your systolic (or top) number drops to 110 or lower, you’re 50 percent more likely to take a fall… or even lose consciousness!

This latest study crunched the data for over 475,000 Kaiser patients who were taking hypertension drugs. Of that large group, almost 30 percent went below that 110 cutoff that upped their risk of taking a tumble — and some even stayed that low for over a year.

But even patients with a one-time episode of that reading were twice as likely to take a bad fall.

And as anyone over a certain age knows, a serious fall can destroy your life as you know it… even take away your independence.

But let’s take a step back to 2014, when some of the most respected heart docs –including Suzanne Oparil, former president of the American Heart Association, no less — published official “evidence-based guidelines” in JAMA that clearly stated:

• If you’re 60 or older, there’s no need to even think about drugs unless your BP readings are consistently 150/90 or higher.

• If you’re under 60, the cutoff point is 140/90. And that’s also the case for those with diabetes and kidney disease.

And while that panel of experts said that lower readings are better for your health, they also said that “aggressive blood pressure treatment” with drugs to reach that goal has potentially dangerous consequences.

So, why the big change in what’s considered to be hypertension?

The best I can tell you is that Big Pharma’s influence is more extensive than you would ever believe.

If a change is made in some recommendation that involves prescribing more meds, you can bet that drugmakers are probably involved in some way or another!

The bottom line is that there’s more to know than a quickie BP measurement can reveal at your next doctor’s appointment. To get an accurate picture of where you really are, you need to begin taking your blood pressure at home at different times of the day.

Home monitoring is especially useful since “white coat syndrome” (when your BP goes up just because you’re in the doctor’s office) is a proven fact! Also, some recent research has found that simply asking your doc or nurse for a second reading will also lower your numbers, as will sitting up straight with your feet flat on the floor, not talking… and NOT crossing your legs while your pressure is being taken!

And if you’re being pushed to start up on one or more of these meds, it’s time to get another opinion before you put your health, mobility, and life at risk.

To Knowing Your Real Numbers,

Melissa Young