Most powerful supplement for blood pressure

[Ron Put]

mccoy, hope things get better with your son.

I am curious, what is an "acceptable" measurement? Do you get a lot of failed readings?

[mccoy]

13 hours ago, Ron Put said:

mccoy, hope things get better with your son. I am curious, what is an "acceptable" measurement? Do you get a lot of failed readings?

Thanks Ron, in situations like these we sure appreciate good health, which can be definitely used to help family and others (hope health keeps being good!).

What they call the acceptance ratio is the ratio of signals which are not refused by the algorithm. I guess when the arm is in motion, when the heart rate is too high and so on but it is not disclosed. I typically have only a single measurement accepted out of 6 in daytime (17% acceptance) whereas in the night the acceptance is typically 83%.

In a few days I'm going to write to support and ask if I can trigger measurements and how can I increase the daytime acceptance.

All other things are good, presently after seeing the readings my concerns about BP are vanished, so I'll soon pass the bracelet on to my wife, who used to have higher values. My intention is to wear it one week every month or other month to check any undesired varations.

Edited January 3, 2022 by mccoy

[InquilineKea]

Ugh I got 128/75... It was ALWAYS 100/60 or 100/70 for the longest of times, then something went up over europe, and then again in canada... the only huge difference was my massive increase in nut consumption (which sometimes went off the roof)... also triglycerides were elevated in one panel (even though it was always super-low for the longest of times too...)

[mccoy]

9 hours ago, InquilineKea said:

Ugh I got 128/75... It was ALWAYS 100/60 or 100/70 for the longest of times, then something went up over europe, and then again in canada..

Sometimes these homeostatic mechanisms seem to go off the usual range,  it must be seen if it is for a short time or longer. What about Europe and Canada?

[Mike41]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8035902/
 

olive leaf extract

[mccoy]

I've calibrated the Aktiia watch for the second time, but now the values are consistently 10 mm Hg beyond my previous values. It may be a change in BP but maybe a calibration problem in the previous measurements since my usual values have been hovering around 120 mm Hg in the previous years.

Bottom line: always check the values of a portable device with a more conventional device, even though in BP the measurement may bring about a change in the system measured, like it happens in quantum mechanics. 

[Gordo]

19 hours ago, mccoy said:

calibrated the Aktiia watch for the second time, but now the values are consistently 10 mm Hg beyond my previous values.

You previously argued that cuff readings are unreliable, and yet this device is calibrated from cuff readings... 

[mccoy]

6 hours ago, Gordo said:

You previously argued that cuff readings are unreliable, and yet this device is calibrated from cuff readings... 

Gordo, that's not the same thing. I argued that cuff readings, due to the constriction of the arm, may cause a neurological alarm and send a strong norepinephrine signal which increases blood pressure. That is an obvious fact. 

The same may occur when calibrating, but the nature of calibration is to match the optical signal to the pressure-sensor signal. Once that has been done, the optical signal in successive measurements reads the BP with no arm constriction, so the interference on the system is avoided, no system change as occurs in quantum measurements.

The above being said, I noticed that in the waking state the difference is probably negligible, whereas by night a Holter device will probably wake you up and increase the quantity measured with respect to the sleeping state.

 

[Ron Put]

On 12/31/2021 at 2:13 AM, mccoy said:

Even night-only measurmentes are interesting anyway. Tonight I got aspleep at 11PM and woke up at 6:30 AM. My sleep is often interrupted by my autistic son, whom I took back home after 3 years of out of home placement. This is representative of a stressful situation, often I'll have to get up in the night and stay awakle a few hours. Often I'll have to tackle his meltdowns, which requires a physical struggle, against a 230 pounds, furious boy. How the homeostatic BP mechanism is reacting to such an almost warlike situation? Apparently not too bad, so far. I had 4 accepted measurements, spanning 6 hours. The first one at midnight was a 113/76, gradually decreasing toward 104/71 and  103/78. Tonight there were no prolonged awakenings, only two interruptions, maybe giving some time to the system to relax. ...

Are you still tracking, mccoy?

I had not taken a blood pressure measurement for over two months and just started measuring over the last few days. I have been sort of on a health streak over the last two months, with virtually no alcohol, no oils, regular exercise, mostly regular sleep, and only about 10 restaurant meals (lower sodium and fat). I have been taking L-citrulline (3g) and ubiquinol, in addition to my B12 and D.

To my surprise, my blood pressure is now consistently lower, with systolic mostly below 100. I am pretty happy about it and wonder if the L-citrulline is at least partially responsible 🙂

 

[mccoy]

Ron, after my second calibration the readings were higher, consistent with my typical values from a traditional home pressuremeter (around 120/75 mm).

The Aktiia bracelet keeps not accepting measurements during the day, I still have no time to write to assistance, but I think I'll pass it on to my wife who has a higher BP.

[tea]

At the very least, Samsung Galaxy 3 watches have demonstrated high accuracy for BP measurements in a clinical setting, after calibration. Models sold outside the US have the blood pressure feature enabled, but it's blocked on the US sold products. There are currently dozens of smart watches capable of reading SpO2, temperature, and blood pressure on Amazon for >$50, and I assume they all have pretty similar tech inside. I'll get one soon and do some testing.

Validation of Blood Pressure Measurement Using a Smartwatch in Patients With Parkinson's Disease

[Ron Put]

On 4/12/2022 at 6:24 PM, tea said:

At the very least, Samsung Galaxy 3 watches have demonstrated high accuracy for BP measurements in a clinical setting, after calibration. Models sold outside the US have the blood pressure feature enabled, but it's blocked on the US sold products. There are currently dozens of smart watches capable of reading SpO2, temperature, and blood pressure on Amazon for >$50, and I assume they all have pretty similar tech inside. I'll get one soon and do some testing.

Validation of Blood Pressure Measurement Using a Smartwatch in Patients With Parkinson's Disease

Tea, a couple of caveats:

Do not confuse the Samsung watch with the cheap Chinese brands advertising BP sensors. I am not aware of a single Chinese brand that can even deliver good Heart Rate accuracy when doing strenuous exercise, so I would not take any of the BP claims at face value. In fact, Samsung, and to an extent Fitbit, are also less than accurate for strenuous exercise. Only dedicated sports watches such as Garmin manage to be close, as does Apple Watch. The difficulties with precise measurements are why Apple is likely to implement BP as showing trend-only feature, warning of high BP trends but not providing exact numbers.

But let's forget accuracy. The other major difference is that mccoy's bracelet tracks continuously, at least during the night, while Samsung doesn't. IMO, this defeats the purpose, as the watch is not as accurate and is generally more expensive than a dedicated BP monitor, and the main advantage I can see for a wearable is continuous tracking.

[tea]

15 hours ago, Ron Put said:

Tea, a couple of caveats:

Those are good points. The cheap Chinese watch I bought actually tests blood pressure every 10 minutes, and HR and body temperature are recorded every minute and logged in an app. I'm not optimistic about the blood pressure accuracy and I haven't tried to validate it yet against a cuff, but I did validate the heart rate monitor multiple times and it reads the same as both my pulse oximeter and Apple Watch Series 3. I will try some more extensive HR and BP validation tomorrow during exercise and see how it performs, but so far I'm satisfied with a $30, 24-hour heart rate monitor.

[Ron Put]

11 hours ago, tea said:

The cheap Chinese watch I bought actually tests blood pressure every 10 minutes, and HR and body temperature are recorded every minute

I'd be very suspicious of whatever number it shows for BP and temperature (it may still have value as a temperature trend tracker).

For HR, get a chest strap and go above 150 bpm several times and compare the results.

BTW, what brand/model did you get?

Edited April 19, 2022 by Ron Put

[tea]

On 4/19/2022 at 6:27 PM, Ron Put said:

I'd be very suspicious of whatever number it shows for BP and temperature (it may still have value as a temperature trend tracker).

For HR, get a chest strap and go above 150 bpm several times and compare the results.

BTW, what brand/model did you get?

You're correct, I tested it during exercise a few times and it basically just doesn't register heart rate variability well enough to be useful. It still works well for resting heart rate, and heart rate trends over time. The one I bought is no longer available on Amazon, but it's basically identical to this one: https://www.amazon.com/LCW-Temperature-Thermometer-Tracking-Waterproof/dp/B08HQRGZYJ/
 

I'm sure there are better ones out there in the same price range, and I can't really recommend cheaper smart watches unless you just want a 24-hour resting HR monitor. The battery life is very impressive though, most new cheap models easily last 10+ days on a charge. It's too bad there aren't a bunch of Chinese Oura ring competitors popping up, like there are with smart watches. Probably will see that within the next year or two.

[mccoy]

Presently the Aktiia bracelet is working better, after the 3rd calibration, I have an impression that it depends on how the calibration is carried out.

Now the data are interesting, there is a marked variability during the day but also during the night, with some isolated spikes, some of which clearly outliers (probably from exertions and so on). In my case, this parameter is still in the optimum range, sometimes around the upper bound, so it means I'll have to take no interventions but I have to check the trend.

The aktiia results provide the daily average, but that's not a significant statistical parameter in the presence of spikes or outliers. It should indicate an average on the filtered data sample, or at least a median value

My present metabolic status is BP=OK, Lipids=OK, BG=not optimum or too close to upper bound of optimum, intervention under way .

 

 

[mccoy]

I've passed on my Akttia bracelet to my wife. In her case, it seems to work better, for whatever reason, accepting more readings during the day (and all night of course). Another important factor I noticed is that calibration with the arm cuff tends to improve the acceptance rate.

My conclusions are that the bracelet works better for some people and less for others, maybe even due to the wrist morphology.

[drcha]

Please keep in mind that elevated blood pressure is only a biomarker of an underlying systemic disease, of which we have a pretty dim understanding. IOW, lowering BP might do little or nothing to prevent the long-term complications. 

[Ron Put]

On 6/29/2022 at 12:58 PM, mccoy said:

I've passed on my Akttia bracelet to my wife. In her case, it seems to work better, for whatever reason, accepting more readings during the day (and all night of course). Another important factor I noticed is that calibration with the arm cuff tends to improve the acceptance rate.

My conclusions are that the bracelet works better for some people and less for others, maybe even due to the wrist morphology.

The BP fluctuations appear to be normal and within the normal range.

Did you sign up for a full year with Akktia? Like CGMs, it appears to be valuable to establish patterns.

[mccoy]

2 hours ago, Ron Put said:

Did you sign up for a full year with Akktia? Like CGMs, it appears to be valuable to establish patterns.

I don't know that there is such a program, presently my wife is using the bracelet, I'm going to wear it again in some time, apparently, BP is not a parameter I must worry about for the nonce.

[Ron Put]

mccoy, did your wife find it useful? Accurate? Is there a subscription fee?

I am in Europe quite often and thinking I might order it.

[mccoy]

Ron, yes, it was pretty helpful to her, she had a bout of high BP a couple of years ago but now the concern has abated after monitoring with the aktiia bracelet, the values are frequently around 120 mm HG and lower by night. In her case the bracelet yields more measurements than in my case, I hypothesize it's a mixture of the BP pattern, blood circulation in the wrist, anatomical configuration of the wrist and more. There is no subscription that I know, you just download the aktiia app.

[Ron Put]

I've been debating is I should get it, mostly on basis of accuracy and wearing another device. I think I might get it 🙂

My BP is normal at an average of 110/65 and often less, at least based on my Qardio device measurements. But I am curious about BP during sleep, etc..

Thank you.

[mccoy]

Ron, you're welcome, I would call 110/65 optimal rather than normal, but I understand the curiosity.