Looking at purchasing a blood pressure monitor, so what are decent options at a reasonable price?

 

On lazada i see them for 150 baht with 5 year warranty. Yeah right, that must be the real thing, not?

 

Reading reviews like, very good but haven't tested it yet, also don't help of course.

 

Any suggestions welcome

The point of measuring equipment is that it's accurate. If you buy something cheap that shows figures +/- 30%, it's no point buying it.

 

Stick to Omron.

8 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

The point of measuring equipment is that it's accurate. If you buy something cheap that shows figures +/- 30%, it's no point buying it.

 

Stick to Omron.

The point of measuring equipment is consistency. It doesn't matter if it's off by 30% as long as it's always off by 30% in the same direction. Then you need to calibrate yours with one you trust to find out how much, if any, that you need to adjust.

 

I have a $100 omron and an $18 cigii that I purchased years ago. The numbers are pretty much identical, and the cigii has atrial fibrillation detection which the omron doesn't.

 

Save your money and get a top rated chinese model, cigii or yuwell should suffice.

2 hours ago, gargamon said:

Save your money and get a top rated chinese model, cigii or yuwell should suffice.

 

Thanks I looked up Yuwell, couldn't find cigii, and the price is acceptable.

 

Found the YUWELL YE660B and the YE650A which are 200 baht different, 570 an 770. Any reason why I should select the more expensive one over the the cheaper one?

19 minutes ago, BenStark said:

Any reason why I should select the more expensive one over the the cheaper one?

Probably not. There are likely features you won't use anyway like memories for multiple people, etc. Compare features to be sure you're not missing something you want. 

3 hours ago, BenStark said:

 

On lazada i see them for 150 baht with 5 year warranty. Yeah right, that must be the real thing, not?

Got mine on Lazada for under 200bht. 7 years old and still working perfectly.

Matches up with the hospital readings as well 90/65. The hospital always make me go for a walk to get a higher reading.

I have an Omron for years and I found out I had an irregular heartbeat witch I had not known.

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

Matches up with the hospital readings as well 90/65. The hospital always make me go for a walk to get a higher reading.

 

That is a very low reading for a male of your age.

I went for a fasting blood sugar test this morning and at the lab first test was 140, they thn checked left arm and that was 156.

 

I drove straight to Banglamung hospital as they have pressure monitors at the entrance.

 

First test was 156, second one 140, and then it went to low 130's

I have a Microlife BP 3AP1-3E with a large cuff that I have been using for years. It is my second one since 2006. 

 

It is similar to this.

 

http://www.excellenthealthtrade.com/สินค้า-167-00390_microlife_blood_pressure_monitor_3ap1-3e.html

and this

 

https://www.omronhealthshop.com/product/16/เครื่องวัดความดัน-microlife-รุ่น-3ap1-3e-พร้อม-adapter-มีเสียงพูด-4-ภาษา

 

It has a memory function for the last 100 readings.

It also shows if you have an irregular heartbeat.

 

A heart arrhythmia occurs when the electrical signals that tell the heart to beat don't work properly. The heart may beat too fast or too slow. Or the pattern of the heartbeat may be inconsistent. A heart arrhythmia may feel like a fluttering, pounding or racing heartbeat.

 

I have no idea of the price nowadays but IIRC you can send it off for calibration to Microlife in Thailand somewhere (I sent mine off years ago and I have forgotten where).

 

I made up a monthly spreadsheet (attached0 just to keep a record.

 

 

Blood pressure 2023.xlsx

19 hours ago, gargamon said:

The point of measuring equipment is consistency. It doesn't matter if it's off by 30% as long as it's always off by 30% in the same direction. Then you need to calibrate yours with one you trust to find out how much, if any, that you need to adjust.

 

I have a $100 omron and an $18 cigii that I purchased years ago. The numbers are pretty much identical, and the cigii has atrial fibrillation detection which the omron doesn't.

 

Save your money and get a top rated chinese model, cigii or yuwell should suffice.

Yes, save your money. Good advice, for even better one, save even more by buying this accurate temperature measurement device:

 

 

Lazada is fine, check the reviews. 250 baht. Focus on changing your diet and causes of high blood pressure

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Lazada is fine, check the reviews. 250 baht. Focus on changing your diet and causes of high blood pressure

But if you don't have or use a blood pressure monitor, how do you know whether your blood pressure is high, normal or low?

 

I was 62 and in Bangladesh before the hospital there told me that I had a partly blocked artery.

 

I came back to Thailand and went to the BKK heart hospital where they told me I had not one, but two part blocked arteries. I bought a blood pressure monitor and I have used it almost every day since.

2 minutes ago, billd766 said:

But if you don't have or use a blood pressure monitor, how do you know whether your blood pressure is high, normal or low?

 

I was 62 and in Bangladesh before the hospital there told me that I had a partly blocked artery.

 

I came back to Thailand and went to the BKK heart hospital where they told me I had not one, but two part blocked arteries. I bought a blood pressure monitor and I have used it almost every day since.

Partially blocked arteries are not an unusual finding in many older people, the issue is the extent to which they are blocked. You might think that a 40% blockage is a major cause for concern yet the intervention threshold is above 50%. And findings of 75% and 80% are not unusual, often they are asymptomatic, mine were. 

5 minutes ago, billd766 said:

But if you don't have or use a blood pressure monitor, how do you know whether your blood pressure is high, normal or low?

 

We're supposed to go to the doctor for regular checkups. And a finger up the jacksy once you reach a certain age.

11 minutes ago, billd766 said:

But if you don't have or use a blood pressure monitor, how do you know whether your blood pressure is high, normal or low?

 

I was 62 and in Bangladesh before the hospital there told me that I had a partly blocked artery.

 

I came back to Thailand and went to the BKK heart hospital where they told me I had not one, but two part blocked arteries. I bought a blood pressure monitor and I have used it almost every day since.

Not sure what that has to do with buying a monitor from Lazada, someone can pick one circ 250 baht and read reviews, my one which i rarely use now has been very good, spending thousands doesn't improve blood pressure

6 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

Partially blocked arteries are not an unusual finding in many older people, the issue is the extent to which they are blocked. You might think that a 40% blockage is a major cause for concern yet the intervention threshold is above 50%. And findings of 75% and 80% are not unusual, often they are asymptomatic, mine were. 

But until I saw the doctor I was completely unaware that I even had a problem.

1 minute ago, billd766 said:

But until I saw the doctor I was completely unaware that I even had a problem.

Me too, it wasn't until an exercise stress test that I found out and one of my blockages was 85%. I guess that's why they call it the silent killer.

1 minute ago, scubascuba3 said:

Not sure what that has to do with buying a monitor from Lazada, someone can pick one circ 250 baht and read reviews, my one which i rarely use now has been very good, spending thousands doesn't improve blood pressure

Of course using a blood pressure monitor does not improve your blood pressure.

 

What it does do is give you some early warning that you may have a problem.

 

My Accu Chek blood sugar monitor does not clear diabetes either. What it does do is give me an early warning that I may be entering stage 2 or stage 1 diabetes. That tells me its is time to monitor it daily and go to the hospital to see the doctor.

 

Both of them are merely tools to monitor my health.

4 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

Me too, it wasn't until an exercise stress test that I found out and one of my blockages was 85%. I guess that's why they call it the silent killer.

And it sneaks up on you without notice.

7 minutes ago, billd766 said:

And it sneaks up on you without notice.

TBH that's not a bad way to go, it sure beats months of suffering, operations and pain. One day you're at the cafe enjoy a latte and next, poof, gone.....that's for me my boy! :)

6 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

TBH that's not a bad way to go, it sure beats months of suffering, operations and pain. One day you're at the cafe enjoy a latte and next, poof, gone.....that's for me my boy! :)

Not so sure about that.  I simple stent placement could give you a another decade of good health.   Without knowing, and having an oops, could weaken your heart to the point if being immobile, or the obstruction could break off, and cause a stroke ... baby food and diapers for another decade 

 

UP2U ... but I like to know what's going on.  People should take better care of themselves vs their care of their vehicles.

Just now, KhunLA said:

Not so sure about that.  I simple stent placement could give you a another decade of good health.   Without knowing, and having an oops, could weaken you heart to the point if being immobile, or the obstruction could break off, and cause a stroke ... baby food and diapers for another decade 

 

UP2U ... but I like to know what's going on.  People should take better care of themselves vs their care of their vehicles.

As it happens I did have a stent installed but there are remaining blockages of less severity that can't all be sensibly stented because there are too many or because of their location. The other point to consider is that if you are found to have cardiac artery blockages, chances are very high you will blockages elsewhere in your body, PAD for example..

38 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

 

We're supposed to go to the doctor for regular checkups. And a finger up the jacksy once you reach a certain age.

Stop trying to make it sound more fun than it actually is. :)

34 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

TBH that's not a bad way to go, it sure beats months of suffering, operations and pain. One day you're at the café enjoy a latte and next, poof, gone.....that's for me my boy! :)

If I had me druthers, I druther pop off overnight in bed, but until it gets me, I prefer to hang around for a few years longer, and wait for am email from King William 1V on my hundredth birthday.

 

They stopped using telegrams and the telegram boy on his 125cc BSA Bantam a few years ago.

2 minutes ago, billd766 said:

If I had me druthers, I druther pop off overnight in bed, but until it gets me, I prefer to hang around for a few years longer, and wait for am email from King William 1V on my hundredth birthday.

 

They stopped using telegrams and the telegram boy on his 125cc BSA Bantam a few years ago.

I'd rather have the BSA Bantam 125 than the telegram.

31 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

As it happens I did have a stent installed but there are remaining blockages of less severity that can't all be sensibly stented because there are too many or because of their location. The other point to consider is that if you are found to have cardiac artery blockages, chances are very high you will blockages elsewhere in your body, PAD for example..

I rather hope not but I have a felling that the doctor wrote after my last black out. He reckons that I probably have Vertebro-basilar artery syndrome.

 

Vertebrobasilar insufficiency is a condition characterized by poor blood flow to the posterior (back) portion of the brain, which is fed by two vertebral arteries that join to become the basilar artery. Blockage of these arteries occurs over time through a process called atherosclerosis, or the build-up of plaque.

 

I am glad that Google has a searh facility.

7 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

TBH that's not a bad way to go, it sure beats months of suffering, operations and pain. One day you're at the cafe enjoy a latte and next, poof, gone.....that's for me my boy! :)

 

You may hope to emulate the European who fell over dead while eating noodles in Jomtien a few years ago. Not sure if it was face first into the bowl or not. Can't find the article now.

7 hours ago, billd766 said:

My Accu Chek blood sugar monitor does not clear diabetes either. What it does do is give me an early warning that I may be entering stage 2 or stage 1 diabetes. That tells me its is time to monitor it daily and go to the hospital to see the doctor.

 

You might consider getting the gold standard glucose tolerance test. FBS and HbA1c aren't perfectly reliable.

I notice from the listings that all those BP monitors come with a 22-32cm cuff, and there are reviews in almost every listing that they are too small.

 

Although I'm by far not a bodybuilder, I frequently work out, and just measured my upper arm, and yes 32cm would probably not large enough.

 

So how do people go about this, as I see from the reviews I'm not the only one, and most likely this affects most westerners.

10 minutes ago, BenStark said:

I notice from the listings that all those BP monitors come with a 22-32cm cuff, and there are reviews in almost every listing that they are too small.

 

Although I'm by far not a bodybuilder, I frequently work out, and just measured my upper arm, and yes 32cm would probably not large enough.

 

So how do people go about this, as I see from the reviews I'm not the only one, and most likely this affects most westerners.

You can separately buy a larger cuff. I got mine on Lazada