Ozeri CardioTech Premium Series Digital Blood Pressure Monitor Review

Blood Pressure has become a common word in every family today. With changing lifestyle, adults including many youngsters increasingly have high cholesterol and diabetes. As adults age, systolic pressure tends to rise and diastolic tends to fall. The symptoms of high blood pressure is hard to find since it varies from person to person in regard with age, exercise, time of day, blood flow etc.  But in case of sudden increase in blood pressure, headaches, problems with the vision and black-outs are common. My grandma who suffered from BP for 20 years died of heart attack at the age of 85. Age is an important factor wherein blood pressure increases with whatever you eat or lack to do. When she was alive, she used to say having symptoms like feeling dizzy or slight sweating whenever she forgets to take her blood pressure medication. And everyday she used to have her BP checked using the auscultatory method. Now a days, blood pressure affects even mid-aged people starting from age 30 +. With age increases appetite and the only way to keep BP in control is to avoid intake of foods more than our body needs, enough sleep and low stress, all of which is either ignored or becomes impossible in this fast moving lifestyle. So, it becomes crucial to check the blood pressure regularly after 30 plus of age .

The usual and best way to check the blood pressure is the auscultatory method using a stethoscope and a sphygmomanometer. The use of mercury manometer gives absolute result without any drift or need for calibration. This mercury manometers is the predominant method of measuring hypertension in high-risk patients including pregnant women.

Ozeri CardioTech Premium Series Digital Blood Pressure Monitor

Ozeri CardioTech Premium Series Digital Blood Pressure Monitor

With technological advancement, another method of measuring blood pressure using electronic devices came into existence known as Oscillometric devices. This electronic version of measuring Blood Pressure are used in general practises and for convenience at home. I had an opportunity to test and use one such Oscillometric monitor from Ozeri named as Ozeri CardioTech Premium Series Digital Blood Pressure Monitor with Color Alert Technology. The product was shipped in perfect condition and I admired the extra feature of color coding it carried.

The Ozeri CardioTech Premium Series Digital Blood Pressure Monitor detects the movement of our blood through the brachial artery and converts the blood pressure into digital reading. It stores about 40 sets of measurement values with date and time for 2 users ( total of 80 measurements). By pressing the MEMO button you can access the stored data. It uses a sphygmomanometer cuff with an electronic pressure sensor which inflates and deflates automatically when powered on.

Setting Up Date and Time

At first, set the date and time of the Ozeri Blood Pressure Monitor by pressing and holding the button TIME. You will notice flashing numbers. Change the values accordingly by pressing MEMO for increasing numbers and SCAN for decreasing numbers. Having done, press TIME button again to finalize and confirm. This will help in noting down (storing) the values in respect with the time and day.

How to use Digital Blood Pressure Monitor

The Ozeri blood pressure monitor is auto calibrated when the POWER button is switched on and hence very flexible to use. Before taking the reading, make sure you see the number "0" on the display along with a beep sound. This means that the device is ready for use. After we press the START button, the cuff inflates automatically.

Measuring Blood Pressure using Ozeri Cardio Tech Premium Series Monitor

Blood Pressure Measurement

During inflation, you can notice the systolic pressure (SYS) number on the side of the display increases at first and then decreases until it reaches a point where you can feel your pulse beats and then it displays the values of systolic pressure, diastolic pressure (DIA)  and the pulse. One feature that's appreciative when compared to other Blood pressure monitor is that anyone who uses this Ozeri CardioTech Premium Series Digital Blood Pressure Monitor can easily see whether they have normal or high blood pressure by just looking at the color displayed at the monitor screen.

How to Read Blood Pressure Values

The screen uses 3-color light system (Green, Orange, Red) to indicate systolic and diastolic blood pressure health according to the World Health Classification. The systolic blood pressure value represents the blood pressure corresponding to the contraction of the heart muscle and diastolic blood pressure value represents the blood pressure corresponding to the relaxation of the heart muscle.

Blood Pressure Chart according to World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Society of Hypertension ( ISH)

Blood Pressure Chart with Color w.r.t Ozeri CardioTech Blood Pressure Monitor

The reading that I have noted for a week (given below) always tends to fall on similar lines with very little variation displaying Green color on the screen providing me the information of having a normal blood pressure.

103 68 62
103 62 60
112 70 58
101 70 58
108 70 61
107 71 69
107 70 75

Also, don't depend on one reading. Take three to four readings with an interval of 2 minutes and take the average of your readings and note it down. These are mandatory to make sure that your readings are accurate. I followed these steps and took my readings for the purpose of this review. I had two occurrence of false readings with varied results with color mixed up before I actually followed the above steps,

128 (green) 103 87 (red)

98  (no light) 64 61 (green)

When I contacted Ozeri about the above fluctuated readings, they told me to make sure that the monitor needs to have a break in between the testing to reset itself. So taking all these facts into accounts this monitor is highly sensitive to posture and the time taken between measurements. But, then this monitor uses oscillometric for measuring our blood pressure.

Instruction on How to Use Ozeri CardioTech Blood Pressure Monitor

Don't use cellular phone near the device as your readings may fluctuate. Also, if you really want to take this device seriously, you got to follow certain suggestions which you usually do at your doctor's clinic. They are as follows - It is required to check you blood pressure 20 to 30 minutes before eating. You should sit upright in chair with your feet flat on the ground and with your elbow resting on a table. The palm should face upwards with your monitor screen facing towards you. The wrist cuff should be in level with your heart level, any difference in height can be adjusted by placing a cushion under the elbow (measurement taken above the heart level or below the heart level might produce too low or too high readings). Before taking the reading, take few deep breaths to relax yourself. Also, it is important not to move or talk while the blood pressure is being measured.

Oscillometric monitors may produce inaccurate readings in patients with heart and circulation problems. Hence it is not advisable to use for important health issues. Any great variations in results should be consulted with the GB.

Conclusion

The Ozeri CardioTech Premium Series Digital Blood Pressure Monitor is a great addition in home especially for elderly people who don't have skills to use auscultatory method for measuring blood pressure. The color coding of three different level of Hypertension gives immediate answer on how good or bad the blood pressure in the body and hence of great help for aged people having blurred vision. It can even be used any time including the night time without depending on someone else. Another important feature is the heart symbol below the monitor screen. In any case if the monitor detects irregular heartbeat twice, then a filled heart symbol is displayed otherwise an empty heart will be displayed. In the former case wherein the heart symbol is filled, it is advised to consult the doctor without further depending on this monitor.

It also comes with a five year warranty and it is a good investment at this prize for someone who needs to monitor their blood pressure and heart rate regularly. One important point with any Blood Pressure Monitor is to double check the readings with your GP/doctor or your manual BP monitor to make sure that your automatic BP monitor is giving you the right values at-least once in a month. Being automatic, easy to use and having additional functions like color coding, irregular heartbeat, date /time functions, Ozeri CardioTech Premium Series Digital Blood Pressure Monitor is a must gadget in one's home.

Disclosure : I received the above product for the purpose of writing a honest review. All opinions are my own.