i am a 38 year old female with blood pressure at 170/89.  This is my second reading in one week.  My first reading was 162/90 and the nurse recommended i stop taking some cold medication with decongestion.  I was told to come back in one week to retake.. which i did and the reading was higher, what could be the cause?
Hello dear, and thanks for posting your query here. The most common cause of high BP is idiopathic, that means where the cause is not known and is mainly related to genetics. This is called Primary Hypertension. It's not curable and needs to be treated to keep the BP under control. Then there are certain other causes of high BP called secondary causes. Many of these are curable. So it is very important for you to see your doctor and get yourself evaluated for these secondary causes of high BP. If a cause is found then it can be treated accordingly. But if no secondary cause is found then you just need to take optimal medicines to keep your BP below 140/90 as per the latest guidelines unless you develop other illnesses. I hope this information would be of help to you. Thanks and all the best.