The leading cause of death worldwide is cardiovascular diseases (CVDs): a broad range of conditions that affect the health of the heart. Although CVDs occur in a variety of ways, some can be attributed to behavioral and environmental risk factors: tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, harmful alcohol use, air pollution, etc. Proactive prevention efforts such as healthy eating, increasing physical activity, and stopping smoking can help disrupt the CVD epidemiological transition in low risk individuals and reduce prevalence, morbidity, and mortality.
One of the most informative vital signs to monitor overall cardiovascular health is blood pressure. High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, directly increases the risk of heart attack, heart failure, and stroke. But if blood pressure drops too low, known as hypotension, then body’s vital organs do not get enough oxygen and nutrients, which can lead to shock.
Today, healthy people or people at low risk of CVDs have their blood pressure monitored during their routine health visits using an arm cuff. However, this single data point doesn’t account for any trend variations that may be happening when no data is being collected.