Blood Pressure Stations
Chart your course to health!
Whether you are managing a serious chronic condition or are looking for ways to improve your overall health and well-being, our two blood pressure stations can help.
A Lifeclinic Health Station is located on the 5th floor of Holmes, East Wing, of the Medical Campus and the 4th floor of University Hall at the University of Cincinnati. These units allow individuals to take their blood pressure, pulse and weight, and calculate their body mass index. You can also track your progess online through the My Health Record at Lifeclinic.com. Monitor your Blood Pressure, Pulse, Weight, Cholesterol and Glucose. Their innovative Event Tracking feature lets you visualize the impact of any significant intervention or event. For those with diabetes, you can even upload your glucose meter data conveniently to your own profile via a serial cable connection.
As many as 50 million American adults suffer from high blood pressure. Monitoring and controlling blood pressure have been shown to reduce disability and death due to cardiovascular disease and stroke. So it's extremely important for individuals with hypertension to keep track of their blood pressure.
Why should I take advantage of the free blood pressure screening stations?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site, “high blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, and kidney disease.” Almost one third of individuals with high blood pressure do not realize they have it. “It is estimated that about 90% of middle-aged adults will develop high blood pressure in the remainder of their lifetime.” It is also estimated that approximately 28% of American adults have prehypertension. (American Heart Association statistics 2006 update and National Center for Health Statistics 2005)
The National Institutes of Health recently stated that “people who have prehypertension and an elevated heart rate at rest have a greater risk of heart disease and death than comparable people with a lower resting heart rate.” (American Journal of Hypertension, August 2006)
What is blood pressure?
Blood pressure is often written as two numbers. The top (systolic) number represents the pressure when the heart is beating. The bottom (diastolic) number represents the pressure between beats when the heart is resting .
High blood pressure for adults is defined as a systolic blood pressure of 140 mmHg or higher, or a diastolic blood pressure of 90 mmHg or higher.
Prehypertension is a systolic blood pressure of 120-130 mmHg and a diastolic blood pressure of 80-89 mmHg.
Normal blood pressure is a systolic blood pressure of less than 120 mmHg and a diastolic blood pressure of less than 80 mmHg.
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