MELBOURNE, (PNA/Xinhua) — Some Australian researchers has invented a new device, which could measure the more accurate blood pressure than usual ones to provide the correct quantity of medication for patients with high blood pressure, local ABC News reported on Thursday.
The Menzies Research Institute from Tasmania state used a pen-like new tool to measure the central blood pressure, instead of the upper arm blood pressure cuff commonly used by doctors in a study that examined around 300 patients.
The new device can measure the blood pressure on the central, vital organs through connecting with the patient’s wrist to receive the more accurate pressure value than the older device.
The pressure point at the wrist means a pressure just outside the heart, which presents the actual experiencing from the organs rather than that in the arm.
“Two people with exactly the same upper arm blood pressure may actually have completely different central blood pressure,” the institute’s associate professor James Sharman was quoted as saying.
She added that researchers found the usual medication was significantly unnecessary for treatment. “So enabling us to have a look at that central blood pressure, we’re able to refine treatment decisions,” said the professor.
The usual quantity of higher medication to treat high blood pressure, which based on the diagnosis of the upper arm blood pressure often account for patients’ weakness and excessive tiredness.
The new device will contribute to reducing the medication and improving the treatment. Among the study, about 16 percent of participants came off medication altogether, the report said.
The Menzies Foundation supported the establishment of an epidemiology research center at the University of Tasmania with the name of Menzies Center for Population Health Research in 1988, which became the Menzies Research Institute in 2004 with the funding help by the Tasmanian government.