Why every doctor takes your blood pressure WRONG!

Blood pressure is an important and commonly used marker to determine parts of someone's health. It is routinely checked at GP visits and medication to control blood pressure is one of the most frequently taken in the world.

When checking blood pressure, your clinician wants to see the top number (systolic) read between 100-140 and your bottom number (diastolic) between 60-100. Any values outside these ranges usually require further checks to determine a cause and possibly a solution. 

In the majority of cases these values are taken from the left arm only, giving a general idea of the whole body's blood pressure demands on a general level. 

So why take it on both arms?

In short, it tells us more about your current health. Having a good single arm blood pressure is awesome, but if there is a difference of 10 mmhg between the two arms your risk factors for multiple issues increase significantly. 

Such differences between values may be a sign of a blockage somewhere in your arteries, kidney disease, diabetes, poor neurological function and heart defects. It will also put you at higher risk for heart disease, AAA (abdominal aortic aneurysm) and stroke, some of the biggest killers in the modern world right now. 

Bilateral blood pressure readings are super important to check when looking at health holistically and can be hugely improved with a high functioning nervous system.