Keep an Eye on Blood Pressure Values
The hypertension journey of Horst Klier began in 2002 at the age of 30 when high blood pressure was detected during a hospital stay. As an office worker, the programmer had little muscle, was overweight, and was advised by his doctor to exercise and lose weight. This was supposed to help him manage his blood pressure – initially without much success. This trigger laid the foundation for the later development of his app „BloodPressureDB“, which allows for easy and quick documentation and evaluation of daily blood pressure measurements – regardless of the blood pressure monitor or operating system.From Excel Spreadsheet to Blood Pressure App
The normalization of blood pressure was Horst Klier's goal, initially through changes in exercise and dietary habits, later through medication. Regardless of the form of therapy, regular collection and documentation of blood pressure measurements is essential. As a working professional, Horst Klier found it very cumbersome to send his three to four self-measurements per day from the office via email to his own computer to transfer them into an Excel spreadsheet in the evening. Therefore, he set up the website www.bloodpressuredb.com for himself to enter his values. Since the site was still public, he gradually received more and more inquiries from interested parties who also wanted to use this option. By mid-2009, the web solution was available for other users, and by 2011, the app version was finally released. Stefan Waller, an internist and cardiologist from Berlin, who aims to contribute to heart health with his digital education offering „Dr. Heart“, considers the app a helpful daily companion for hypertension patients: „I highly appreciate the BloodPressureDB app and recommend it for its clarity and intuitive, easy usability both online on my website and to my patients in practice. The feedback from patients has been consistently positive so far.“ The convincing aspect: BloodPressureDB is independent of measuring devices and operating systems and synchronizes data across various devices, from smartphones to tablets to computers. Manufacturers of measuring devices also offer suitable apps, some with cloud synchronization; however, these are tied to the manufacturer and its devices.The latest feature of BloodPressureDB is the ability to transfer measurements via Bluetooth. Horst Klier explains: „There are now blood pressure monitors that support the current Bluetooth standard for blood pressure measurements. This allows users to conveniently transmit their values to the app without manual input. The app automatically recognizes which values have been newly recorded and adds them to the overview.“ This also eliminates erroneous entries by the user that could distort the evaluation.
Horst Klier's offering is well received: More than 350,000 users have registered with BloodPressureDB; the portal records about 700,000 uses per month. Among them are not only younger, smartphone-enthusiastic users, as one might assume. „I continually receive feedback from older individuals who use the application on their computer or tablet and especially appreciate the simple input and evaluation,“ says Horst Klier. Conveniently, statistics and graphics can be created for doctor visits that capture blood pressure development at a glance – essentially a digital blood pressure passport. Additionally, simplified documentation motivates patients to conduct self-measurements in the long term.
Health Hazard Number One
Continuous monitoring of blood pressure is essential, as hypertension is the number one health hazard in Germany. Initially, high blood pressure often shows no particular symptoms, but the consequences can be severe. High blood pressure damages the inner protective layer of the arteries and accelerates arteriosclerosis. Gradually, hypertension causes changes in most organs, which can ultimately lead to heart failure, heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, and many other organ complications. „Two-thirds of untreated hypertension patients die from coronary heart disease or heart failure,“ warns Dr. Stefan Waller. „40 percent of all strokes could be prevented by normalizing blood pressure.“But when is blood pressure considered too high? Generally, the current guidelines of the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) classify blood pressure below 140/90 mmHg as normal. The average of several blood pressure measurements should be 5 mmHg lower. The causes of hypertension can be diverse and are not necessarily organic in nature. Four factors increase the risk of high blood pressure: too little exercise, unhealthy diet, overweight, and stress.
Expand the App, Reduce Stress
For Horst Klier, the self-developed tool is a constant companion in everyday life – and will continue to be in two ways: On the one hand, he continuously works on new features and additions to the app. On the other hand, he continues to work on his blood pressure values: Despite a significant weight loss of over 30 kg in 2014, his blood pressure remains borderline at just over 140 mmHg systolic and about 95 mmHg diastolic. „Reduce stress,“ is his doctor's instruction. As a self-employed person with five children, that is not so easy. But Horst Klier is optimistic: „Children will eventually grow up.“
Characters: 5,106/ Keystrokes: 5,893
Images:
Image 1: With the development of his app, Horst Klier has found a way to easily integrate regular self-monitoring of blood pressure into everyday life.
Image 2: „Horst's BloodPressureDB“: With the personalized app, each user receives, for example, clear evaluations over longer periods.
Image 3: Exercise is part of it: To keep his blood pressure and weight in check, Horst Klier does strength training in his home gym.
Downloads:
Contact BloodPressureDB:
Horst Klier
horst.klier@bloodpressuredb.com
klier.net GmbH & Co. KG
BloodPressureDB
Schwabach
Press:
Wiebke Reichardt
Tel.: +49 (0)911 / 598 398-0
Fax: +49 (0)911 / 598 398-18
w.reichardt@wassenberg-pr.de
Wassenberg Public Relations for Industry & Technology GmbH
Rollnerstr. 43
D-90408 Nuremberg
