A new study showed that obese patients may be wrongly diagnosed as hypertensive because the arm cuffs used to measure their blood pressure are the wrong size. With two-thirds of the country overweight this is a very prevalent issue. It appears that up to 10 percent of overweight patients are incorrectly diagnosed.
Take home message? If you are having your doctor measure your blood pressure make sure the cuff they are using is the correct size and your arm fits inside the markings indicated on the cuff.
You can also review Dr. Paul Rosch's recent review of blood pressure for further information.
British Medical Journal Auggust 30, 2003;327:468 Full Text Article