September 22nd is the national fall prevention day. All to often, a major decline in our health is precipitated by a fall, broken bone and subsequent complications of treatments. There are multiple on-line sites such as the Mayo Clinic which give simple tips in preventing falls. In-house we’ll be having talks and demonstrations not only how to prevent falls but how to safely get up off the floor if we do fall.
One aspect related to falls often not mentioned are blood pressure medications. If our pressure falls too much, then the circulation to the brain decreases causing dizziness, blurred vision, weakness and even blackouts and falls. Often our doctors don’t measure our blood pressure sitting and standing. On standing it’s normal for blood pressure to fall a bit if we are on hypertension treatment. But it can fall at times more than 20 mmHg causing symptoms – particularly if we go from lying to standing quickly.
If you are monitoring your home blood pressure, one suggestion is to check it 5 times during a single day in order to get a good average. It’s a good idea to check it both sitting and standing, record everything and then give the results to your health care team. Making medication adjustments with only random blood pressure checks can be misleading.
The recommendations on the “ideal BP in the elderly” continue to evolve. Click here for a good review.
If you are experiencing dizziness or weakness on standing and your blood pressure looks low, check with your doctor urgently for advice.
For all of us as we age, it’s a good idea when getting out of bed to sit on the edge of the bed for a few moments, stand slowly, gain balance then move about. These slow movements help to prevent sudden drops in our blood pressure. This is a general recommendation for all seniors.
The condition is called postural hypotension or orthostatic hypotension – well known but likely under diagnosed.