Should My Doctor Be Using Blood Pressure Readings I Get At Home Or Readings From The Office To Adjust My Meds?

— -- Question: Should my doctor be using blood pressure readings I record at home (self-monitoring) or readings from the office to adjust my medicines?

Answer: Well, because we're getting more patients actually taking their blood pressures at home, it creates a little bit of a dilemma for the physician. Many physicians for many years have been accustomed to just getting the reading in the office, and adjusting the medicines accordingly.

Now, what has to be done is, home readings, which sometimes can substantially differ from the readings obtained in the office, are incorporated into the decision on adjustment of medications.

So I think the prudent physician right now, and even more so, the wise patient, knows that those readings can leverage their position on what's done with medications. So I think it's evolving in front of our eyes right now, but increasingly, home readings are becoming the norm by which we adjust medications.

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