alta presyon

A knock on my front door at midnight is what drove me to write this entry. It was Neighbor 8’s aunt inquiring if I had a BP apparatus while pointing to an unmistakable redness in her left eye.

She had just taken a calcium channel blocker to lower her blood pressure. Prior to the intake of her medication her systolic blood pressure was 160 mmHg.

Having been alerted to her increasing blood pressure she had taken her medication and asked her niece to take her BP immediately afterward. It had risen to 180 mmHg. Not entirely convinced about the accuracy in measurement of her niece’s new BP apparatus, Neighbor 8’s aunt was knocking at my door at midnight to have her BP checked.

Prior to having her BP taken she explained that her niece’s father (a doctor) had just been there and told her that the redness in her left eye was possibly a “hematoma” resulting from her increased blood pressure.

I took her BP. 190/90 mmHg. I reported it to her. Mistake Number One. She was asking me if her systolic BP was indeed 180 mmHg and in my honesty I informed her that it was actually 190 mmHg. The knowledge of such a high BP became a source of additional concern to Neighbor 8’s aunt who had already been anxious about her BP from the start. Her BP had never increased to this level before and she was visibly agitated.

Having been seen by a doctor previously who dismissed her eye problem and only advised her to take her medications I was left with no other option but to try to downplay the gravity of her condition in order to allay her fears. In so doing, I only suggested that she retire early and rest. She had already taken her medication and her BP would eventually go down anyway. In any case, she had admitted that she was worrying too much about her blood pressure and this might have caused it to increase even more.

Mistake Number Two. Advice from a student like me (solicited or otherwise) would never be enough to allay her fears about her condition. Especially since I had been the one to alert her about it and it was one that she had not encountered before. On my part, knowing that the hospital was only a short walk away, I should have offered to accompany her to the OPD for a check-up. Just as I was about to hit myself on the head for this oversight there began a slight flurry of activity next door. In a few minutes Neighbor 8’s aunt, accompanied by her niece, were on their way to the hospital.

“Magpapatingin na rin ako para sigurado,” she said, indicating that to be safe, it would probably be best if she would go to the hospital, saying so while pointing to her left eye, the one with the ocular hemorrhages, saying that it had been there since Friday.

The point of all this seemingly senseless narration is that amidst her gratitude and my level-headedness throughout the entire episode I have actually handled the situation unsatisfactorily. The score is 0-1, the incompetent medical student leads this time. I just hope that this does not happen again and that this incompetent medical student will hopefully turn into a competent doctor someday. To ensure that this does not happen again I am logging out right this very minute to read further on hypertension, its ocular manifestations, management and recommended medication.


Note: The onset of action of the particular calcium channel blocker used is 30 to 50 minutes. The peak action occurs between 6 to 12 hours. That being said, the effect of the drug is not seen immediately (as in only a few minutes) after intake. And yes, worrying too much about hypertension may contribute to an increase in BP.


[To the more knowledgeable readers (that is assuming I have readers) feedback in the form of advice, corrections, clarifications and criticisms are welcome.]