[Boomer]

I realize that the original poster's question has been answered, but before this thread runs it course, I would like to pick up on what evolve54 and k2at said about having your own bp monitor.

Hypertension is known as "The Silent Killer." Quite often, no symptoms show up and then it gets picked up on during a routine appointment with the doc. And certainly those monitors at the drugstore or grocery store can help. But I just want to say that I think it's really worth spending a few bucks to buy your own, for lots of reasons......

There are those who find that their blood pressure rises in correlation to their salt intake. And if that's you, you can do your own little study with a home bp monitor.

Maybe see how that bp is doing if you have been eating a lot of processed food or adding salt to the other stuff. Sodium intake can do a wicked number on bp for some. And if you are one of those people, monitoring bp yourself, between doctor visits, can make a believer out of you. (You know when you have been going heavy on the salt. Make yourself look at what that might be doing to your bp.)

There are those for whom stress causes a bp rise. Stress can be impossible to avoid, but you can stay aware of any effect it might be having on bp.

Diabetics can be prone to hypertension and usually know that they must monitor bp regularly.

And, yes, we might as well face it. Here we are reading something called "Talk of The Villages." -- Age can be a factor in hypertension.

(Whenever I write something like this, I think, "Oh, here goes Boomer again. She is probably an English major who knows nothing about medical stuff. Who does she think she is? Might be one of those librarian types. Librarians can be dangerous people. Librarians know a little bit about a lot of things and not a whole lot about anything. Oh, who knows? But here she goes again.")

But I am going to post this anyway -- because hypertension is serious stuff and if just one person catches a problem with a home monitor and gets on top of it, this will have been worth posting.

Boomer