Over a year ago my doctor diagnosed me with high blood pressure and wanted to put me on medication. I was adamant that I wouldn’t take it and said I would have to change my life. I’ve followed strict diet regimens in the past and seen myself through hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) so I knew I had the stamina to do it.I immediately cut all sodium from my diet and started to exercise. I really hate exercising and engaging in any type of sport, but I did it.Frugal, although I prefer to think I’m practical, I didn’t schedule another appointment with my doctor. Instead I regularly went to Clarendon Pharmacy and took my blood pressure in the free machine they have there. I recorded the readings.They didn’t change much so I ramped up the exercise.I joined Sandys 360 gym and cycled and swam almost everyday in March, but that too had little impact and when I got a nasty rash from the pool, I quit the gym scene altogether.It was spring so I took to walking (which I’ve always liked) but that took too long so I started to jog. Hated jogging but I figured this was good for me. My blood pressure finally started to move down. I felt jogging was making all the difference, so, concerned about my ankles and knees, which I bound up to jog, I rejoined the gym.I bought a pair of jogging sneakers and restricted their use to the treadmill. I wouldn’t even wear them to the gym only at the gym.I started jogging three miles a day. I felt really good that I was doing this and had become resigned to the fact that it was a necessity because I didn’t want to take medication.I continued to monitor my pressure but now didn’t always go to Clarendon. I would go to my cousin Andrew who also has high blood pressure or to my Aunt Flora a retired nurse.The readings were never the ideal 120/80, but to my mind that goal always looked within reach. Then my readings started to go higher, sometimes very high. One day at Andrew’s it was so high that he convinced me to take his medication. Please, never do this! I only took half the pill he gave me, but it was stupid of me. I decided I needed to monitor my pressure very closely.In September while in the US, I picked up a portable blood pressure monitor at CVS Pharmacy. I paid about $25 for it. I figured I no longer had to bother my relatives to use their equipment and I didn’t have to make a special trip into Hamilton to go to Clarendon Pharmacy.But using the little monitor had me so worked up with worry I actually contemplated attending the hospital’s emergency ward. When I saw blood pressure hit 160/110, I cried and told my husband I was really unwell.I bored any and everyone I came into contact with on my high readings and my worry and the fact that I felt fine, that I was running three miles a day, had cut out sodium but was seeing these high readings.I had one of those conversations some of us have with ourselves and afterwards announced I would be seeing my doctor. I was resigned to the fact that I would have to take medication.I allowed sodium back into my diet. I figured if my pressure wasn’t going down I might as well enjoy food a bit more. About a week later I saw my doctor and sheepishly admitted that after all, I did need medication because my pressure was reaching dangerously high levels.Ironically at the time all of this was taking place, I was writing regular articles on hypertension. It seemed a sign from the gods that I should attend to the condition I had or face loss of liver function, probable dialysis and possible blindness. Blindness. I’d be completely useless blind. Imagine, I wouldn’t be able to write anymore.My doctor asked how I was measuring my pressure and then took mine with his sphygmomanometer the cuff with the hand pump and his stethoscope. I told him I’d had readings as high as 160/110 and he said my pressure was 122/93.He said I did not need medication and that the problem was the digital monitors I had been using. These machines tend to give abnormally high readings and cannot be relied on for a diagnosis he said.I was relieved but concerned that others may also be relying on the inaccurate readings given by these machines.In fact in the December 6 edition of Body & Soul, I wrote an article on the results of a free health screening done at the hospital for Diabetes Awareness month in November.Blood pressure readings were part of that screening. Almost half (90) of those who were screened (185) had pressure levels above 140/90 and of those 90 people, 20 had readings above 160/100.But all those reading were done with a digital monitor.Dr Femi Bada, chairman of the task force committee that created the Hypertension Guidelines for Bermuda 2011, said the guidelines clearly state the instrument that should be used to do measurements.Page four of the guidelines reads: “Use mercury sphygmomanometer, or calibrated aneroid or validated electronic device.”Government’s Senior Medical Officer Dr Cheryl Peek-Ball said she’s not concerned that the digital machines are being used for public screenings.“Public screenings are often not the ideal setting for blood pressure readings to be taken,” she said. “Noise and excitement of the event often mean the person is not in the controlled environment needed for an accurate reading.“Public screenings cast a wide net. I’m not concerned about this because in getting a higher reading at least you are not going to miss the true hypertensives,” she said.And she said screening figures alone should not be used to diagnosis a person. Three blood pressure readings at three different times in a controlled environment where the person is quiet, has not been smoking etc are required for a diagnosis of hypertension high blood pressure.Hypertension is a major public health concern in Bermuda. More than a quarter of the adult population is estimated to have the condition. Body & Soul in support of the Department of Health’s public awareness campaign on hypertension, features regular articles on its cause, prevention and how to manage the condition.