Can you recall a doctor’s appointment during which your blood pressure wasn’t taken? Probably not. It’s a vital sign—along with heart rate, breathing rate, and body temperature—that reflects how well your body is functioning. But unless you’ve already been diagnosed with high blood pressure or another medical condition that requires you to monitor it at home, chances are you don’t often take your own blood pressure.
“Most people, the only time they get it checked is when they’re at the doctor’s office,” Dr. Joseph Ebinger, director of the coronary intensive care unit at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, tells Fortune. “Individuals, if they have their own history of having high blood pressure measurement, or a strong family history of high blood pressure, or, finally, cardiovascular risk factors—things like diabetes or peripheral arterial disease—I would recommend that they have a blood pressure cuff at home.”
