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Manual Blood Pressure Monitors
Manual blood pressure monitors are a very affordable alternative to automatic units. These monitors require manual inflation, which is accomplished by squeezing the blood pressure inflation bulb. Omron sells just one manual unit, the HEM-432C In June 2003 Consumer Reports wrote about blood pressure monitors. According to a newssheet, "Home Blood Pressure Monitors", from the Pharmacist's Letter/Prescriber's Letter, two manual arm units were "equally rated by Consumer Reports": • Lifesource Manual Inflation BPM UA-702V, UA-702VL • Lumiscope Semi-Automatic BPM 1060 However, these units have now been superseded by more advanced models from both LifeSource and Lumiscope. Other companies producing well-regarded manual monitors are Samsung and Mark of Fitness. In November 2005 an Interesting report appeared in the Orlando Sentinel (no longer online), with a registered nurse testing various home blood pressure monitors: What I want: Accuracy. Automatic monitors are nice and convenient with automatic inflation and digital readouts, but the least expensive and most accurate is a manual device. I must have: A cuff size that fits; too small will give a reading too high, too big will give a reading too low. The cuff on a manual monitor has a built-in stethoscope (not the best choice if you're hard of hearing, because you need to hear your heartbeat through the 'scope). A semiautomatic monitor provides a digital readout, but you have to inflate the cuff, while an automatic monitor is most popular because it does all the work for you -- but you pay for that convenience. What I hate: Finger and wrist monitors are cute but not very accurate; a wrist cuff is too far from your heart, so the reading will be lower. Savvy shopper: If you're buying a monitor on a recommendation from your doctor, check to see if your health insurance plan covers the cost. Also, monitors that connect to your PC can give you more information and even analyze the reading. * See the Newest Products and Get the Latest Prices on Manual Blood Pressure Monitors See also my report Guide to Buying the Best Home Blood Pressure Monitor. And for the latest information, and to see what other customers are buying, check out the following Amazon.com best-seller lists (which are updated hourly): * Best-Sellers in Blood Pressure Monitors * Best-Sellers in Automatic Blood Pressure Monitors * Best-Sellers in Arm Blood Pressure Monitors * Best-Sellers in Wrist Blood Pressure Monitors * Best-Sellers in Manual Blood Pressure Monitors May 29th, 2007
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Categories Alternative medicine
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The ease-of-use of automatic blood pressure monitors makes them the preferred choice nowadays for most people. But some still prefer a manual unit. In the words of the Omron website:
(picture), the best-selling manual unit at Amazon.com.