High blood pressure is diagnosed through repeated measurements over the course of several days.
These are taken using machines wrapped around the wrist or arm, among others.
However, one machine could be better than another.
“Don’t use the wrist monitor as they’re pretty unreliable,” said Graham MacGregor, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Queen Mary University, London, and chair of the UK’s only blood pressure charity, Blood Pressure UK.
“It’s much better to measure blood pressure elsewhere.”
Graham recommended using an arm cuff machine to measure blood pressure.
“Machines are normally pretty accurate,” he told Express.co.uk.
“Providing you get the cuff on right.
“It’s better to use an arm cuff machine which should get the reading largely correct.
“You will need to get the cuff at heart level on the arm before you take the reading, otherwise you will get an inaccurate result.”
He continued that wrist monitors were not effective as they can’t always be lined up with the heart correctly.
The American Heart Association also does not recommend using a wrist monitor, preferring instead the machine that measures blood pressure in the arm.
“Wrist blood pressure monitors are extremely sensitive to body position,” said the Mayo Clinic online.
“To get an accurate reading when taking your blood pressure with a wrist monitor, your arm and wrist must be at heart level.
“Even then, blood pressure measurements taken at the wrist are usually higher and less accurate than those taken at your upper arm.
“That’s because the wrist arteries are narrower and not as deep under your skin as those of the upper arm.”
When measuring blood pressure, a reading should be taken in both arms to get an overall reading.
High blood pressure can be caused by a high-salt diet, too little physical activity and being overweight, among other factors.
Ways to treat high blood pressure include changing a diet to include more healthy foods and exercising more regularly.
The NHS recommended avoiding not eating more than six grams of salt a day, equivalent to a teaspoon.
Eating kiwis could be one way to lower blood pressure.