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Article: High Blood Pressure; Diagnosis.
- Article from:
- NWHRC Health Center - High Blood Pressure
- Article date:
- March 16, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 National Women's Health Resource Center. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Your health care professional should check your blood pressure at least once every two years. A high blood pressure diagnosis based on the average of two or more readings per visit, taken at two different visits after an initial screening. The only way to check your blood pressure is to measure it using a device called a sphygmomanometer, commonly called a blood pressure cuff. This is a quick and painless test in which a rubber cuff is wrapped around your upper arm and inflated. As the cuff inflates, it compresses a large artery, stopping the blood's flow through that artery. When your health care professional releases the air in the cuff, he or she can listen with a ...