My dad went from 150/90 to 175/105 on the next day, and his bp remained at the latter level after that. Help? -

My dad went for a body checkup and the doctor found he had 150/90 (a few months ago he was 140/90). So, he decided to put my dad on a 5-day self-monitor to see if it remains constant (or drops) before deciding to put him on hypertension meds. My dad hence went to the local pharmacist to record his daily readings. And we were shocked on the second day when his systolic bp went up to about 180 (and diastolic 110), and later in the afternoon 175/105 (LH) and 176/104 (RH). And after just eating fish, rice and water and beans, and having 40 rounds of swim yesterday, his bp remains higher at 177/108 today. I m worried. What could be the cause of it? Should he go see a doctor straight away even if there is 2 days of self monitoring left? A couple of points: *My dad was on holidays so he wasn t stressed out, methinks. *He seemed to be nervous yesterday but wasn t nervous since he woke up this morning to have his bp checked. *Family history: His parents were on hypertensive meds but died of stroke, and his brother had hypertension but took no meds and suffered stroke at his late forties. So could this sudden increase in bp be of a genetic cause or secondary to another problem that was undetected in this family tree? I really wish someone could give me advice on this. I m not sure if the average town clinic at my country deals with this sort of problems seriously. Thanks!

PLEASE.....I mean, do what you want, but I have no faith in MD s when it comes to this type of stuff. They will prescribe medicine that will cause seriosu side effect, and in turn, they will prescribe medicine that will help with those side effect, and and in turn will.... Also, MD s simply mask the problem with medicine. They need to find the root of it and then treat it accordingly instead of simpley prescribing medicine to mask it. I would recommend the T-tapp program for exercise. Call the office and ask what tapes is best for him. Check out www.betterbodybasics.com. I would also recommend this program for you. And for anyone. And then I would suggest good ole magensium soaks. Magnesium slows the heart down and makes it relax. Check out HIGHLY recommend MAGNESIUM soaks!!! HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY. If you decide to call the number from the above link, ask the owner what she thinks - her name is joan and she is a naturopath and VERY knowlegeable and resourceful...will talk with you for hours. Also, read the magensium testiomonials from the above website. Also, if you go to betterbodybasics.com...go to the off topic section and do a quot;searchquot; with the word quot;Magnesiumquot; and you will see thread(s) with many pages on this stuff. I found out about Mag from the betterbodybasics forum. It has helped so many people! HTH

Pharmacy machines are notorious for being wrong, but I do urge your father to go back to the doctor to make sure. 175/108 is very hypertensive. Any doctor can treat hypertension, as it s very common and easy to control with meds and lifestyle change.

I think with your father s family history of hypertension and strokes, that he should be put on anti hypertensives right away. Just for the few days of monitoring, he has proven that he does have hypertension and its not just that he was nervous when he went into the doctors office. I think I would go back to the doctor and get on the meds. Hypertension can cause strokes, kidney failure, and heart disease to name a few. I don t think that you need to wait any more. If you go back to the same doctor and are not pleased, ask around to find another doctor that may be more responsive to his needs