Those who suffer from high blood pressure probably understand why it’s called a “silent killer.” Often there are few if any symptoms to alert you to a problem and it’s only when there’s an acute crisis do you realize the danger you’re in. So, unless you’re vigilant with your meds and monitoring, you may not realize how at risk you are from high blood pressure.

But you can’t always be running to your doctor to assess that risk, can you? That’s why home monitoring of blood pressure may be the key to keeping the disease under control and why the results of a new observational study are so important. With free blood pressure cuffs, regular reminders and help with understanding the numbers, study participants were able to keep their blood pressure numbers well under control, with significant savings in doctor visits, ER visits, and medication costs. While this was only an observational study, the results point to a positive, and cost-saving, way to track and keep patients with high blood pressure healthy. To read more about this study, and find tips on choosing and using a home blood pressure monitoring device, stick out your arm and read here. And check out this new Harvard study that demonstrates the value of “virtual” physician visits to monitor and follow up your blood pressure concerns.