Dr. Steve Kopecky

So anything the heart has to do is multiplied by 100,000 times.

So patients look at me like disbelief and I'll say, here, pick up this pen.

Okay, off my desk.

Now pick it up another 99,000 times today and you'll get the idea.

Your heart has to work very hard.

And so the guidelines have really started to emphasize the importance of lifestyle, you know, your weight, your exercise, what you eat, how you handle your sleep, how you handle your stress, because those are the number one causes of high blood pressure, which is indeed the number one cause, the number one reversible risk factor that we can treat to lower your risk for heart attack, stroke, erectile dysfunction, eye disease, kidney disease, all sorts of things.

So the guidelines are evolving.

And the last thing they said was, you know, these new blood pressure cuffs are so accurate now, these automated ones.

And let's not keep doing these prolonged blood pressure readings in your office.

Let's have the patient check them at home.

Get a blood pressure cuff that Bluetooth to your phone.

It's recorded on your phone.

You can email it.

You can download it to the medical record.

It'll average it.

It'll tell you what the goal should be.

And so we're trying to take advantage of the technology that's there and is very accurate.

So things have changed, but I think for the better.

Yeah, that's a very good point.

And the blood pressure cuffs have been around for 140 years.