There are lots of home blood-pressure measuring gadgets.
Some are even more or less wearable.
Quite a few have extensive datalogging capability, with timestamps.
Many are cheap wristwatch-style devices, which we already know Don't Work, so let's disregard those.
Of the cuff-type devices, from reputable suppliers, with datalogging and timestamps... where's one with a feature for taking scheduled measurements? It looks (at first scan) like they all need a button pushed to initiate a measurement. Shouldn't there be one that can be strapped to the subject and a measurement schedule programmed, like "every 15 minutes from 2130 to 0930" or similar? And, by "strapped to the subject", I mean that the measurement head, not just the cuff, should be strapped on.
Because... it turns out that some people have major blood-pressure excursions at night. In the high direction, that is. And this can cause serious problems. And taking measurements, manually, during waking hours won't detect the problem.
Ergo, there should be a home monitor that can do the monitoring, automatically, all night and maybe all day too. At regular intervals.
It should be a Simple Matter Of Programming, but someone has to ask for the feature first, and it seems that hardly anyone is aware of the need for this. Including most of the medical profession, judging from the lack of guidance we've had from the various doctors who've dealt with my father over the last few years.
I wonder if any of the Bluetooth-capable models can be given a START command via the blee teeth. And whether there's any way of doing that other than running the vendor's app and manually pushing a button on the phone....
In related news, it appears that we're becoming a dry household. Despite my claim that "I don't have a drinking problem; I can start any time I want to", I've never managed to start. Joy has given up alcohol the past few years. And now... well, it seems that the little bit of wine my father has been having with dinner may be aggravating his nocturnal hypertension. Oh, well: this is Baptist country, so it's not like the neighbors will look at us funny for not drinking.
Update: It appears that studies have been done, using Omron devices to take automated measurements... but I can't find any information on those devices. Maybe they're only for sale to medical institutions, and their existence is hidden from the public? The Omron "Evolv" has about the form factor I was thinking of, being basically a wearable... but, despite it being wearable and having a smartphone app to go with it, the "documentation" seems to indicate that the only way to initiate a measurement is to push the button on the device itself. Grrrr! (And... wait. Finding and pushing a button on a gadget worn on the upper arm is... inconvenient, no? That makes it a stupid form factor, not a good one.)
Update 2: I have a sneaking suspicion that the absence of automatic initiation on any such device available to the public has something to do with the FDA, but I'm not familiar enough with the byzantine world of medical-device regulations to point to anything specific... other than it should exist, and it would be absolutely trivial to implement.
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