In the United States, one of every three adults has hypertension, a condition created when the force of the blood pumping through your arteries is too high. Hypertension is often referred to as a “silent killer” because it usually is not associated with symptoms. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, hypertension is the lead cause for all cardiovascular complication and chronic kidney disease. Only 47 percent of people being treated for hypertension have it under control. Diabetes is when the pancreas does not make enough insulin and cause elevated levels of glucose in the blood. In the United States, 29.1 million or 9.3 percent of people have diabetes. In 2010, diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death among Americans and is associated with many debilitating complications: Heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney disease and amputations. The prevalence of hypertension in patients with diabetes is 71 percent. In diabetes, complications are more severe for those who have a poor control. Hence, daily monitoring of blood sugar and blood pressure is essential in these two conditions.
Fluctuation in pulse, blood pressure and blood sugar is normal. However, increase in the range and frequency of fluctuation is associated with adverse health effect. Hence, it is the cumulative effect of abnormal blood pressure and blood sugar over time that is associated with complication. Collection of aggregate information in these conditions this way is more reliable and accurate. Therefore, it will be useful to collect continuous information on blood sugar and blood pressure to detect its cumulative burden in these two conditions. Consistent with this logic most patients’with diabetes are encouraged self-monitoring and this principle also applies to blood pressure in the management of and pulse. Essential in these two setting is to direct intervention based on changes seen in aggregate data set.
Repeated measurements taken over extended periods indicate true burden of blood pressure unlike single determination taken every 3-4 months in clinical practice. Currently, decisions made in hypertension are based on one or two readings taken randomly. Literature supports home blood pressure is superior.