Hypertension Diagnosis

When a doctor is diagnosing hypertension, a high blood pressure reading is only the first of many steps that are taken into consideration in order to fully evaluate the patient's overall heart health. In many cases, the initial reading is rendered irrelevant due to non-medical variables that temporarily rose the patients blood pressure and a hypertension diagnosis is not necessary.

"White Coat Hypertension"

One factor that a doctor will consider upon discovery of high blood pressure is whether the patient is abnormally anxious to be in the doctor's office, a common condition known congenially as "white coat hypertension" that is not a true hypertension diagnosis. While some individuals simply have a natural fear of being inspected by a doctor, other patients will arrive in the office with a spike in blood pressure because they rushed to the appointment worrying over their health. In some cases, otherwise healthy, young patients might appear to have a history of high blood pressure because they only receive medical examination when they are at the emergency room for a sports injury or other serious condition.

Measuring the Accurate Blood Pressure

Because "white coat hypertension" and other factors can play such a major role in altering a patient's blood pressure, the most important step to hypertension diagnosis is often obtaining a proper reading. In order to do so, the doctor or nurse must first get the patient to return to base line. Factors that the medical staff will take into consideration include waiting until any caffeine is out of the patients system, letting the patient sit quietly for a few minutes and ensuring that the patient keeps his or her arms at heart level during the reading. Naturally, care must be made that the blood pressure is measure accurately when diagnosing hypertension, and two measurements are often taken with a couple minutes between each reading. 

Diagnosing hypertension

If the patient continues to display high blood pressure, the doctor will proceed with evaluating him or her based on other important criteria. The patient's medical history will be taken into account, including current medication, family history and any previous problems with blood pressure. Next, the doctor will order blood tests to find whether kidney problems or other issues might be causing high blood pressure. With this information and any related symptoms that are found during a full physical examination, the doctor will be able to make an informed hypertension diagnosis.

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