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So I have high blood pressure (middle age it seems sucks), and have been under a cardiologist for 18 months. The first thing he said was “this wearable is good”

So I have high blood pressure (middle age it seems sucks), and have been under a cardiologist for 18 months. The first thing he said was “this wearable is good”, so of course I bought it and it’s been on my wrist consistently. The company is legit but has made considerable effort not to allow the data out of their eco-system (exports only to pdf, no ability to send to Apple Health etc). So I notice that I send a quarters worth of pdfs to the doctor, whose secretary prints them out and he flips through them with a strange expression trying to work out what’s going on. I have taken a few frustrating lunchtimes to parse out the pdfs and have gotten to the point I can get the data and graph it - but what to usefully do with it is interesting Company: Aktiia - look for mikado-aktiia on github

ewoodrich 2y ago
Out of curiosity, what is the value in constant heart rate measurements your doctor sees? I have taken blood pressure meds for about a decade now and don't think that's ever been suggested for me but also my PCPs never acted particularly considered about my high BP readings given my age for a long time. I kinda had to self advocate for meds that (mostly) control it. I was hoping losing a lot of weight (now in the normal range) would help but still seem to need the meds and by all indications I have a consistently high heart rate which concerns me a bit as I get older.
- lifeisstillgood 2y ago
  Agreed on the “how do I fix this” issue - I run about four miles a day which I hoped would help, and need to lose more weight but it seems mostly “middle age - cannot be fixed only managed” As for the constant monitoring - I don’t know. I think he would be happy with weekly manual blood pressure or something - because as someone points out downthread, that’s what is comparable ans what has decades of medical experience (research/ empirical experience) But one believes that monitoring more is going to lead to more effective or earlier decision making.

ewoodrich 2y ago

Out of curiosity, what is the value in constant heart rate measurements your doctor sees? I have taken blood pressure meds for about a decade now and don't think that's ever been suggested for me but also my PCPs never acted particularly considered about my high BP readings given my age for a long time. I kinda had to self advocate for meds that (mostly) control it. I was hoping losing a lot of weight (now in the normal range) would help but still seem to need the meds and by all indications I have a consistently high heart rate which concerns me a bit as I get older.

lifeisstillgood 2y ago
Agreed on the “how do I fix this” issue - I run about four miles a day which I hoped would help, and need to lose more weight but it seems mostly “middle age - cannot be fixed only managed” As for the constant monitoring - I don’t know. I think he would be happy with weekly manual blood pressure or something - because as someone points out downthread, that’s what is comparable ans what has decades of medical experience (research/ empirical experience) But one believes that monitoring more is going to lead to more effective or earlier decision making.