Is systolic blood pressure all that matters? Yes

Earlier, we have seen significant emphasis on diastolic blood
pressure. Subsequently, due recognition was given to the importance of
systolic blood pressure. However, this does not mean that we need to adopt
either "diastolic" or "systolic" approach. Also, hypertension appears to
emerging in middle-aged people due to unhealthy lifestyle where arterial
stiffening may not be the only factor contributing to hypertension. In
this group, both SBP and DBP are equally important for better management
of this risk factor for prevention of cardiovascular events.

The majority of cardiovascular disease burden comes from developing
countries whose health care delivery budgets may not be in a position to
fund expensive gadgets like AMBP devices. Digital home blood pressure
monitoring units are user-friendly but may yield inconsistent results, if
used incorrectly. In this circumstance we need to rely on time tested in-
clinic BP measurements. Moreover, this data will help us correlate with
the benefit of various studies poured over the years.

Competing interests:
None declared