The nurses not only test you as soon as you come into the room, but they always ask you a question, like "And how are you today?" even though they should know that talking raises BP. They also sometimes go very quickly and can't possibly know at which point the sounds began.
If you follow all the recommendations for testing, you'll have a baseline lowest BP. But I think we also want to know how high BP goes during daily activities, so it wouldn't hurt to measure at other times too. If you have a BP of 110/70 while lying down avoiding caffeine and anxious thought but you go up to 180/100 when your doctor calls and tells you to make an appointment right away, this is probably not healthy.
Just as some think glycemic variability is not healthy.
another important variation is circadian rhythm- in fact, normotensive people experience a significant drop in BP while they sleep, while primary hypertensives have no such drop- this is another reason why BP can be a silent killer- so those at home should try a mid nite check, by a significant other or smart dog- anyone who has no BP drop overnight may need medicine, or dreams of bunnies and butterflies...
As we have seen from the medical reports of a number of our presidents, a resting heart rate of 45-50 beats per minute can also be associated with a high level of physical fitness. (Low heart rate can also be associated with the administration of beta blockers to treat hypertension, but that appears not to be your particular issue.) Since you do a lot of walking and self-report a high level of fitness, I would not have associated a low heart rate with a thyroid issue. OTOH, it would seem you have never trained with a heart rate monitor. Using these in conjunction with exercise can show how your body responds to physical stress -- and knowing your norms can alert you when things are not normal for you.
Thyroid is one of those tests my doc does on an annual basis, so I'm never too concerned about it.
What I am curious about, though, is the accuracy of both sides of the Fora. A couple of years ago I took a look at the Advocate Duo, and what I found was that while it was reasonably accurate at measuring blood glucose, I could NOT get a correct blood pressure measurement from it. The company replaced the device for me, but I still kept getting wildly variable and wildly inaccurate readings.
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As the CTO of an Internet-based telemonitoring and health coaching company (myowncare.com), I am extremely interested in the Fora D20. The simpler and easier to use the home devices are, the more adoption (and hence the more value) consumers will have from them. A key question: does the Fora D20 have a dataport to connect to a modem (wired or wireless) - or better yet is it available with a modem? Anybody know?
Thanks,
Avi Kamman
Dear Avi,
Yes, you can link the Fora D20 to a computer. MedPoint Advantage also offers the "TeleHealth Gateway" to transmit data. I'm sure that if you call them you and they could work something out. Lee Stallings is the COO and his phone is 866-563-3764.
David