How Can Uncontrolled High Blood Pressure Be Treated?

Posted on Tue, 4 Jul 2017

Question: I have a friend that is 90 years old. I have been taking her to the dentist for some work, when they check her blood pressure three weeks ago it was 152/72, last week it was 155/56, yesterday it was 165/76. I am concerned because of the increase in the top number. Should I be concerned. Some days she says she just doesn't feel right, but can't say what the problem is

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (40 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!

Regarding your concern, I would explain that your friend's blood pressure values are above the normal ranges.

But, some isolated values of high blood pressure do not indicate uncontrolled high blood pressure.

For this reason, I would recommend you to closely monitor her blood pressure values frequently during the day for an entire week(in sitting position after 10 minutes of total relax) and write those values down.

If her blood pressure values are persistently high (above 140/90 mm Hg), I would recommend consulting with her attending physician for a careful physical exam and some tests to investigate for secondary causes of high blood pressure:

- a chest X ray study
- a resting ECG
- complete blood count for anemia
- thyroid hormone levels for thyroid dysfunction
- fasting glucose for diabetes
- kidney and liver function tests
- blood electrolytes for possible imbalance
- PCR and ESR for inflammation.

If all the above tests result normal and her blood pressure are high, you should discuss with her doctor on starting anti-hypertensive therapy or increasing the doses if she is actually taking any anti-hypertensive drugs, in order to have a better control of her blood pressure values.

Hope to have been helpful!

Kind regards,

Dr. Iliri

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar