10 Of The Best Blood Pressure Apps For 2018

High blood pressure affects around 77.9 million, or 1 in 3, adults in the United States, and 18.5 percent of them are unaware that they have the condition. It is normal for blood pressure to rise and fall throughout the day, but if it remains high for an extended period, it can cause heart problems and other health-related issues. High blood pressure can put an excessive amount of pressure on artery walls, which can damage the body's blood vessels and organs. Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to heart attack or stroke, aneurysm, heart failure, weakened blood vessels in the kidneys, vision loss, and reduced thinking ability. Making lifestyle changes can go a long way toward helping to control your blood pressure. Your doctor may recommend regular exercise, following a healthful diet, maintaining a healthy weight, managing stress, and quitting smoking. Sometimes, though, changing your lifestyle is not enough and your doctor may recommend medication.

Only half of all people with high blood pressure have it under control. But there are many apps that either specialize in blood pressure or help you to make lifestyle changes to lower your high blood pressure. Here are Medical News Today's choices of the 10 best blood pressure apps to help keep your blood pressure in check. Blood Pressure Companion tracks blood pressure, heart rate, and weight. The app has a clean interface that can be used to visually monitor your blood pressure through a log, chart, and histogram. The app allows straightforward tracking of systolic and diastolic blood pressure in a chart. The mean arterial pressure of each reading can also be calculated. Blood Pressure Companion allows you to create reminders for measuring your blood pressure and even doctors appointments. When your readings are abnormal, you can quickly and efficiently determine what may be causing your blood pressure to skyrocket and lower it accordingly. Using the app, your blood pressure measurements can also be shared with your doctor. The Heart Habit app is a smart, easy, and creative way to track and manage your risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke.

If you have already had a heart attack or stroke, Heart Habit is the perfect companion to manage your future risk. The app is developed in collaboration with physicians, dieticians, and pharmacists from Stanford University, the University of California, San Francisco, the University of California, Davis, and Kaiser Permanente. Through educational content, recommendations, and personal insight and trends across activities and lifestyle choices, the Heart Habit app can pave the way for you to achieve perfect blood pressure and a healthy heart. Pacer is a pedometer and step tracker that feels like having a fitness coach and walking buddy all in one place. Their guided workouts and personalized fitness plans aim to help you achieve your fitness goals. Physical activity can help to lower your blood pressure. Engaging in regular exercise such as walking for 30 minutes on most days of the week has been shown to reduce blood pressure by 4-9 millimeters of mercury. Whether your phone is your hand, pocket, or purse, the Pacer app will track your steps all day long and record distance traveled, activity duration, and calories burned.

It is also possible to create walking groups with your family and friends to stay motivated. My Diet Coach is the fun and easy way to lose weight. The app helps you to discover what keeps you motivated, how to stay on track and avoid food cravings, and how to make small and healthful lifestyle changes. Being obese puts you at a much higher risk of developing high blood pressure. As your weight increases, so does your blood pressure. If you are overweight and have high blood pressure, one of the best things that you can do is decrease your body weight. Even losing 10 pounds can help to lower your blood pressure. Set your weight loss goal with My Diet Coach and track your progress. The app has a pictorial weight tracker so that you can visually see your weight decreasing. My Diet Coach provides motivating tips and quotes and rewards you when you are successful. Sleep Cycle is a smart alarm clock that analyzes your sleep patterns and wakes you up in your lightest phase of sleep.