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Some doctors ask their patients, under treatment for hypertension, to buy and use such machines for self-monitoring, so the doctor can have a more accurate assessment of the daily fluctuations of the levels.

It is my belief that monitoring one’s own blood pressure without instruction and interpretation may cause anxiety and serve no useful purpose.

High blood pressure causes no symptoms and therefore is usually detected only at routine checking. Symptoms, when they do develop, are most often late and due to damage to various organs.

Headaches may be common in well-established and severe hypertension, but the symptom is so common it may be unrelated to the level of pressure.

Persistent high blood pressure places a strain on the left ventricle of the heart. This is the chamber which pumps blood through the aorta to all the body. Persistent strain causes this side of the heart to enlarge.

This pattern of left ventricular strain or hypertrophy (enlargement) may show on the electrocardiogram, or ECG.

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Allergic conditions are a little like rheumatic disorders — they’re common in our community but tend to be forgotten when there’s money for research.

Figures show that between 10 and 20 per cent of the population suffer from one or more allergies and over 80 per cent of families have a sufferer.

It’s not only pollens and dust which may offend — but food. Allergy to food may cause a variety of symptoms, including hives or urticaria, asthma, rhinitis or nasal problems, eczema, gastro-intestinal troubles and even migraine.

Allergy to foodstuffs has been incriminated in hyperactivity in children and may be a factor in Meniere’s syndrome (which causes giddiness) and in the bowel disorder of ulcerative colitis.

Animal foods such as cow’s milk and hen’s eggs are the most common but shell fish, some vegetables and fruit are also recognised as potent allergens.

A great deal of attention has been focused on cow’s milk because of its widespread use in infant feeding. The gut of infants appears to be able to absorb the proteins of this food without digesting them so they enter the bloodstream and can provoke the onset of allergy.

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