Doctors Are Taking Your Blood Pressure WRONG—Here's Why

By Dr. Scott Olson, ND Posted August 2, 2025

I get frustrated every time I go to the doctor (yes, doctors do go to the doctor) because the people who take my blood pressure almost always do it incorrectly.

And before you think I’m just being a cranky know-it-all, let me explain why this matters…

How many times have you rushed into the doctor’s office, gotten hustled into a chair, and had someone slap a cuff on your arm while you’re still catching your breath? They pump it up, scribble down some numbers, and move on to the next patient.

Sound familiar? Well, it turns out there’s a far better way to get an accurate reading—and it’s so simple, you’ll wonder why everyone hasn’t been doing it all along.

A new study from UT Southwestern Medical Center found that measuring blood pressure while patients are standing rather than sitting may actually improve the accuracy of readings.

Their findings, published in Scientific Reports, could lead to significant improvements in the early detection of high blood pressure in healthy adults. And trust me, early detection is everything when it comes to this silent killer.

High blood pressure is the number one risk factor for heart disease and stroke, affecting a whopping 48 percent of adults in the United States!

That means nearly half of us are walking around with a ticking time bomb in our arteries.

Researchers discovered that standing blood pressure readings caught cases of hypertension that the traditional sitting method missed entirely.

Think about it—you spend a significant amount of your day standing and moving around. And we’re certainly more active in our daily life than when we’re planted in a chair at the doctor’s office getting our blood pressure taken.

So, it makes sense to measure our blood pressure in a position that actually reflects how we live our lives.

This isn’t just academic nitpicking—it could mean the difference between catching high blood pressure early enough to do something about it or missing it, resulting in serious complications down the road.

Now, I’m not saying you should march into your next appointment and demand they take your blood pressure standing up (though honestly, it couldn’t hurt to ask). But this research does highlight something I’ve been saying for years: how we measure things in medicine matters just as much as what we’re measuring.

The current standard practice—having you sit in a chair with your feet on the floor, arm supported at heart level, after resting for five minutes—isn’t necessarily wrong. But it might not be the whole picture.

Standing blood pressure measurements could be vital for seniors who might have different cardiovascular responses when standing versus being seated.

As we age, our blood vessels become less flexible, and our bodies might not regulate blood pressure as efficiently when we change positions. A standing measurement could reveal problems that a sitting measurement misses.

The bottom line is, if we’re going to rely on blood pressure readings to make important decisions about our health, we’d better make sure we’re getting accurate numbers.

Written By Dr. Scott Olson, ND

Nearly 25 years ago, failed mainstream medical treatments left Dr. Olson in constant pain – and his health in ruins. And that’s when he did something REVOLUTIONARY. He began his career in medicine – and dedicated his life to uncovering the true, underlying causes of disease.
Through his innovative medical practices in Tennessee and Colorado, Dr. Olson has helped cure countless seniors from across America of arthritis… heart disease… diabetes… and even cancer. All without risky prescription drugs or painful surgeries.

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