Doctors should no longer diagnosis patients with high blood pressure from a single reading, according to British guidelines published today.
New proposals signal a major shake-up in the diagnosis of blood pressure problems, reckoned to be a major indicator of stroke and heart disease risk.
And they come just 24 hours after scientists unveiled a radical new device aimed at getting more accurate readings from close to the heart.
One of the scientists, from Leicester University, has played a key role in developing the new guidelines – which do not use the new machine but require patients to be offered an overnight procedure for checking readings.
The experts say thousands of people could be spared having to take blood pressure drugs.
The draft guidance, from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, says the initial diagnosis of primary hypertension – high blood pressure – should be confirmed by taking extended readings over a 24 hour period.
This can be done with a portable device attached to the patient, known as ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, or by taking readings in the home. High blood pressure would be indicated by average readings slightly lower than expected in the surgery – 135/85mmHg at initial diagnosis.
The guidance also suggests groups of patients who need special investigation if there is an initial reading of high blood pressure. This includes people under the age of 40.
The experts say as many as 25 per cent of patients may suffer from an increase in blood pressure when faced with a doctor or nurse attempting to take a reading – a phenomenon known as white coat hypertension, making it hard to get accurate readings in the surgery.
Blood pressure expert Professor Bryan Williams, of Leicester University, who led the team developing the guidance, said there was a "wealth of new evidence" to back the proposals.
He said: "The areas where we have been able to recommend significant changes based on this new evidence will, nonetheless, have a major impact on how hypertension is diagnosed and subsequent treatment monitored.
"Of perhaps greatest significance are the findings which suggest that the current practice of using a series of blood pressure readings taken in the clinic alone for the diagnosis of hypertension can lead to inaccurate diagnosis."
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