Dr. Sanjay Gupta

You want a better way before you are labeled with something like that to measure it.

And then I think you have to have a detailed evaluation of whether that number is actually harming you.

And if you have all that information, then you are in a better position to make lifestyle choices and even start treatment and then have your measurements repeated in the same way.

Not, oh, I had a very sophisticated 24-hour blood pressure monitor first, and then I went to my doctor and he did a hand reading and he said it's not coming down.

Well, you have to compare apples with apples.

So I think that...

We should never ignore something.

I think worrying about it doesn't sort the problem out.

But I do think that we are in an era, especially with the internet, where patients are keen for more information and they're keen to feel more empowered about taking charge of these things.

And why is that?

Because if I do my blood pressure now, whilst facing all your complex questions, it's going to be higher than when I go home.

Because you're anxious, your heart rate is higher.

Yeah, absolutely.

So for me to be labeled with a condition that is going to afflict the rest of my life, and it is not just about having a label, it will affect my insurance, it'll affect everything.

And it will cause my blood pressure to go up as well.

To be told now I have a medical condition which is associated with a very high risk of heart attacks and strokes.

So I think it's very important that we are more responsible and we do the harder thing, which is a more detailed evaluation of the patient rather than this standard, oh, let's just do a blood pressure now with automated machines as well.

So there's a lot of scope there.

And I think that one would say that almost a quarter of people who are told to have high blood pressure,

probably don't have sustained hypertension and they end up carrying this label taking medications suffering the indignity of side effects etc so much more detailed readings are important another point to mention is that i think when we talk about blood pressure the question is how do we know blood pressure is a bad thing