According to specialists, blood pressure readings should be collected from both arms rather than just one.
Experts fear that millions of cases of hypertension may be missed by how doctors now test for it.
High blood pressure can cause heart attacks and strokes, the two leading causes of death worldwide.
In research of almost 50,000 participants, the difference between obtaining blood pressure readings from two arms versus only one was analyzed.
12 percent of individuals who were first given the all-clear were reclassified as having high blood pressure after both readings were collected.
Dr. Christopher Clark, a physician from the University of Exeter in Devon and the study’s principal investigator, stated, “High blood pressure is a global concern and improper care can be fatal.”
Failure to measure both arms and utilize the higher reading may not only result in underdiagnosis and undertreatment of high blood pressure, but also an underestimating of hazards for millions of people around the world.
Some individuals have a higher reading in their left arm compared to their right, while others have the reverse result.
Therefore, it is essential to examine both arms.
He added, “Correctly detecting high blood pressure is a crucial step in providing the proper treatment to the right people.”
The study, which was published in the journal Hypertension, analyzed the data of 53,172 participants.
Instead of just one arm, blood pressure readings were taken from both of the volunteers’ arms.
Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury and describes the force with which your blood presses against the arterial walls (or mmHg).
Systolic (the top number) represents the force with which the heart pumps blood out of the body. In contrast, diastolic (the bottom) pressure is measured while the heart is at rest between contractions.
If either number is excessively high, this can strain the arteries and key organs.
However, doctors are more concerned with the systolic number.
Dr. Clark and his colleagues discovered an average difference in systolic pressure between arms of 6.6mmHg.
When both measurements were considered, over 6,500 subjects were pushed into the hypertension category, which is defined as being greater than 140 mmHg.
Atherosclerosis might result in differences between the arms.
Although worldwide recommendations recommend measuring blood pressure in both arms, the practice is not widespread in clinics at present.
According to experts, only around half of the physicians take readings from both arms, typically due to time constraints in busy clinics or hospitals.
