The Silent Killer, High blood pressure (Hypertension).

High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)

A risk factor not a disease.

High blood pressure, also referred to as “hypertension” is not a disease but a risk factor for heart disease & more importantly stroke. Your circulation is a closed system & high pressure within this system damages the inner surface of blood vessels & / or weakens the blood vessel wall. Damage risks blood clots forming, weakness puts the vessel at risk of rupture, needless to say either can be catastrophic.

Why silent?

High blood pressure is called the silent killer because until you have a fatal blood clot or failed vessel wall you may not have had any symptoms. High blood pressure is therefore asymptomatic. You only know you have raised blood pressure if you have it checked.

How do I check my blood pressure?

Your G.P., practice nurse, or pharmacist will do this for you but more and more people are doing their own checks using home blood pressure monitors. Home blood pressure monitors are now affordable, accurate & easy to use.

Whether you choose a wrist monitor or an upper arm device doesn’t really matter. Upper arm monitors are the more traditional & have been more rigorously verified in trials but either could save your life. Home blood pressure monitors are also useful in helping your G.P. monitor your treatment over time if you do have established high blood pressure.

What should my blood pressure be?

Normal blood pressure is approx. 140/80. High blood pressure is approx.160/100. Mildly elevated or borderline blood pressure is somewhere in between. The top number “systolic” is the pressure within your circulation when your heart beats & “diastolic” the pressure within your circulation when your heart is filling or relaxing.

What causes high blood pressure?

High blood pressure doesn’t usually have a cause but is simply the way you were made. Some people are tall some people have high blood pressure. There is however still one or two things you can do to help lower blood pressure. Reducing salt & alcohol intake helps, keeping weight under control & exercise all reduce blood pressure. It is also vitally important if you have high blood pressure to consider your other risk factors for heart disease or stroke. These are; smoking, raised cholesterol, diabetes, family history, obesity, or lack of exercise.

Before it is too late.

If you have never had your blood pressure checked take the time in the next week or two to have it measured.

Dr. Brendan C. Kellett BSc MBBS MRCGP

Dr. Kellett is a practicing GP and a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners

© Medi-sent Limited 2009 www.medi-sent.com

Swine Flu - Watch for temperatures

Swine Flu ( H1N1 )…….

As the Swine ‘Flu pandemic gathers momentum are you & your family prepared ?

If you experience a sudden onset of high fever, sore throat, headache, runny nose, cough & aches & pains, you could have Swine ‘Flu.

“Every household should have a thermometer, know how to use it, & be confident that they can accurately record body temperature.”

Fever is a defence mechanism, it inhibits viral replication & speeds up your body’s immune response. It’s a sign that you may need medical attention. Normal temperature is 37.2 C or 98.4 F but it may vary by as much as 0.5 C or 1 F throughout the day. Therefore a core temperature of > 38 C or 100.4 F constitutes a fever. Temperature is most easily & practically recorded by an “ in ear “ infrared thermometer or digital thermometer used orally or per axilla (armpit). Mercury glass thermometers are no longer in use as there are safer alternatives.

Thermometers

In ear infrared thermometers are quick & easy to use & are essentially one click. However they may not be suitable for children under the age of 36 months as an excess of wax can sometimes be a problem. That said these the quickest and easiest device to use.

Digital thermometers take a minute or so to record temperature & can be used under the tongue for oral temperature or per axilla (armpit). Remember to add 0.5 C or 1 F for readings taken per axilla (armpit).

Prepare:

It’s hoped the swine ‘flu pandemic will continue to follow what has so far been a benign course but being prepared & taking a common sense approach to protecting you & your family will help ensure the impact of this new strain is minimized.

So to be prepared…

• ensure you have a suitable thermometer, stock up on tissues, disinfectants, non-perishable foods & listen out for local advice & bulletins.

• Stock up on tissues, hand disinfectant & surface wipes.

Personal hygiene is so important in preventing the spread of infection & especially hand washing. Hospitals have learned costly lessons & now hand disinfectants are ubiquitous. Having hand disinfectants at home can be no bad thing. Surface wipes are also quick & easy. Lastly, tissues should be used to catch those germs, then binned. Catch it .. Bin it .. Kill it..!

• Stock up on non-perishable foods.

If you or your family do catch swine ‘flu, you will be unable to make it to the shops so stocking up on non-perishable foods is sensible & prudent.

And finally, if in any doubt, call your GP’s surgery before visiting, your doctor may want to visit you to avoid the risk of spreading the virus.

Dr. B. C. Kellett BSc MBBS MRCGP

Dr. Kellett is a practicing GP and a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners

© Medi-sent Limited 2009

How Tooth Whitening Kits Work

What is tooth whitening?
A simple, cost effective, way of lightening your teeth without removing any layers from the surface enamel.

How does the whitening work?
The whitening gel draws out the moisture from your teeth through the tiny pores in the enamel. The carbamide peroxide then enters the pores and gently bleaches the teeth white by changing the coloured compounds in the pores of your teeth to colourless ones through a process of oxidisation.

How Long does it Take?
You will see a noticeable difference in the whiteness of your teeth after just a few treatments. Up to 11 shades lighter within 2 weeks is possible.

Our kits are proven to work and have been reviewed favourably in magazines and on television - including the Channel Five Show "The Diet Doctors".

About our Dr George Madray Teeth Whitening Kits
Originally developed for dentists by Dr George Madray, himself a leading U.S. dentist, and renowned author and lecturer.

The gel was introduced to dental surgeries in 1989 and was awarded a patent 2 years later on the kit we sell here. The kits contain dental surgery strength gel with a PH level of 6.7 to 7.2 as recomended in a recent Daily Mail feature on teeth whitening gels, and the customizable mouth trays to allow all upper and lower teeth to be bleached at once.

View Teeth Whitening Kits

Dental water jets for use with braces

Water Jets for braces

Dental water jets are designed to remove all loose debris and plaque from around the teeth and gingival margins. When wearing a brace, these are areas which are extremely difficult to clean in the conventional way and often the source of infection or bad-breath problems.

The dental water jet such as the waterpik overcomes these issues, is less invasive and far more effective at removing plaque than any other conventional cleaning methods.

Paul the dentist.

View Waterpik

Omron MIT Elite & Elite Plus - What's the difference?

Omron have introduced two new fully automatic upper arm blood pressure monitors recently; the MIT Elite and MIT Elite Plus, marking a step forward in stylish design and functionality.

The Omron MIT Elite range has a friendlier design which is more portable and suitable for use in public. Both models have a large LCD display, and easy one-button operation, high memory capability with averaging of last 3 readings over 10 minutes and 90 reading memories. They ignore irregular heartbeats to ensure accurate readings and use icons to easily indicate hypertension or warn of erratic measurements.

The Elite range of BP monitors are both very high specification, the difference being the Elite Plus has a backlight function to illuminate the screen, and computer connectivity with Omron Health Management software to transfer and record measurements on your PC. This makes sharing your BP history with your clinic or doctor much easier.

Whichever you choose these are the best home BP monitors from Omron yet.

New Medi-sent.com Blog

Our new blog!

Welcome to our new blog.

Medi-sent os operated by Paul the dentist and Paul the physiotherapist, both based in Jersey in the Channel Islands. We are professionals skilled in the use the products featured on the site and we only sell products we recommend to our clients.

We will regularly be adding articles on the benefits and practical uses of our products and if you have questions or suggestions you'd like to share we'll be happy to answer them and feature them for the benefit and interest of other users. Or, for private enquiries feel free to email us.

TENS Machines - Get the Best Results

TENS machines

(Transcutaneous Electronic Stimulators) are ideal for relieving many types of pain where drugs are either ineffective or unwanted. Many pain clinics now recommend TENS machines for treatment for chronic pain sufferers as they are recognised as being a viable option for pain relief.

TENS machines work by interrupting the body's pain impulses. There are many ways to use your TENS machines - so we will be putting together suggestions and advice to help you get the best results.

If you have a particular question though you can actually post it here on the blog by adding a comment, which may help others too, or if you have a private enquiry please feel free to email us.