Dear Colleagues and Friends
Welcome to the first newsletter of the year! This is also my first opportunity to say hi and hello to the Hypertension Australia community as your new Head of Strategy and Communications. It’s been a pleasure so far to help find ways to support how we get the word out on the excellent work our membership does and help build community understanding of high blood pressure. Watch this space!
In this edition of the newsletter, we have a series on new studies focusing on novel techniques and best practice in blood pressure measurement. We also profile new paediatric hypertension guidelines and cuffless BP devices of which some Hypertension Australia members have been very involved with. As always, plenty of new and exciting things in the world of hypertension.
A reminder that those interested can sign up to run a May Measurement Month site, performing some blood pressure screenings and advancing community knowledge around high blood pressure.
Best wishes,
Gianni Sesa-Ashton
Chair, Communications Committee
Hypertension Australia
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This article discusses the emerging use of the Apple Watch as a tool for hypertension screening, highlighting its potential to detect elevated blood pressure using cuffless technology while emphasising the need for proper calibration and validation. It concludes that while promising for large-scale screening and self-monitoring, such wearable devices should complement – not replace – standard blood pressure measurement methods.
This is a mixed-methods study exploring how Australians obtain home blood pressure monitors, finding most buy from pharmacies but only about half use clinically validated devices. Consumers value accuracy but often lack guidance to identify a validated device, highlighting a need for better education and support from health professionals.
This study found that a new automated blood pressure monitor using Korotkoff sounds (Ksens‑BP) showed excellent agreement with standard manual auscultatory measurements and more accurate results than conventional oscillometric devices, especially across a range of cardiovascular conditions. Unlike oscillometric devices, its performance wasn’t significantly affected by comorbidities like atrial fibrillation or peripheral artery disease, suggesting it could offer reliable BP readings in complex patient groups.
This study evaluated emerging radar‑based cuffless blood pressure technologies and found promising performance in estimating BP compared with traditional methods, suggesting potential for accurate, non‑contact measurement in clinical and remote settings. This work underscores how advanced digital health tools may expand convenient blood pressure monitoring beyond conventional cuffs.
This study emphasises that using the correct blood pressure cuff size – based on a person’s arm circumference – is crucial for accurate readings both at home and in clinical settings, as improper cuff sizing can lead to measurement errors. Despite its importance, appropriate cuff selection is often overlooked, highlighting the need for greater awareness among patients and healthcare providers.
This systematic review and meta‑analysis found that unattended automated office blood pressure (AOBP) measurements tend to be slightly lower (by around 2–3 mm Hg) than attended AOBP readings when the same device and protocol are used. However, the small differences between unattended and attended measurements may not be large enough to meaningfully alter clinical decisions, and attended AOBP remains a reasonable option in practice.
Gianni Sesa-Ashton is a final-year medical student at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute and Head of Strategy and Communications at Hypertension Australia, with a strong focus on resistant hypertension and the role of the sympathetic nervous system in blood pressure regulation. His work spans renal denervation, innovative research techniques, and national screening initiatives, all aimed at improving outcomes for patients with complex hypertension.
The Iverson Health Innovation Research Institute, led by Director Professor Gavin Lambert, tackles cardiovascular health through transdisciplinary collaboration spanning bioengineering, computational biology, AI, and neuromodulation. Since launching in 2017, the team has published over 275 peer-reviewed articles, spawned three start-up companies, and secured competitive national grants—all focused on solving real-world health challenges through innovative, ethically-grounded research.
May Measurement Month is the world’s largest blood pressure screening program running from the 1st of May all the way to the 31st of July.
The MMM team is looking for teams wanting to run a blood pressure screening opportunity at their place of work or out in the community.
Participating is simple. Teams may run a site for one day or multiple days across the time period, with structured questionnaires and standardised blood pressure measurement guides provided. Get some more information or sign up at the link below.
Following the success of the symposium at last year’s ASCEPT & Hypertension Australia Joint Scientific Meeting, Prof Gavin Lambert has prepared a report highlighting the significant cardiometabolic health inequities faced by people with intellectual disability and showcasing emerging research and co‑designed approaches to improve cardiovascular prevention and care.
The NHMRC is now calling for applications across its Investigator, Synergy and Ideas Grant schemes, supporting researchers at all career stages to lead innovative, collaborative and impactful health and medical research.
Applications close:
This is a reminder that Hypertension Australia membership renewals are now open. Renew now to continue accessing exclusive member benefits, including:
Check your emails for instructions on how to complete your renewal. Any questions, contact membership@hypertension.org.au.
The National Hypertension Summit 2025, held in Adelaide in December, brought together leaders from across sectors to review progress on the National Hypertension Taskforce Roadmap and its ambitious goal of increasing Australia’s blood pressure control rates from 32% to 70% by 2030.
A keynote address from Australia’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Michael Kidd AO, highlighted the scale of hypertension in Australia and the urgent need to improve prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment. He commended the National Hypertension Taskforce for its collaborative work and reaffirmed the national goal to lift blood pressure control rates.
The Summit showcased initiatives by Taskforce members that are advancing hypertension prevention, detection, and management and closed with a session on team-based care that emphasised the contributions of GPs, pharmacists, nurses, and consumers in strengthening multidisciplinary hypertension management.
The National Hypertension Taskforce received a $75,000 seed grant from one of the Taskforce’s founding organisations, the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance (ACvA), to deliver the 12 month project “Preventing, detecting and effectively treating hypertension in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples”. The project responds to the significantly higher and earlier rates of hypertension experienced in Indigenous communities.
The initiative follows a three phase, partnership based approach, ensuring Indigenous leadership throughout. It will engage with community organisations and people with lived experience, build leadership capability through small seed grant opportunities, and co design a self-determined action plan aligned with the Taskforce’s Roadmap.
Running from September 2025 to August 2026, the project will guide long term strategies to embed Indigenous perspectives across all Taskforce activities. The Taskforce thanks ACvA for supporting this vital, community led work.
This international position paper outlines practical, evidence‑based guidance for clinicians on evaluating and treating high blood pressure in children and adolescents, emphasising accurate measurement, identifying underlying causes, lifestyle changes, appropriate use of medications, and long‑term follow‑up to reduce future cardiovascular risk. It aims to harmonise care globally and support early detection and effective management of youth hypertension.
This American Heart Association scientific statement reviews the growing field of cuffless blood pressure devices (like smartwatches and other wearables), noting they show promise for convenient and frequent monitoring but currently lack sufficient validation and accuracy for diagnosing or guiding treatment of hypertension. It highlights major gaps in real‑world performance, the need for standardised validation protocols, and the importance of interpreting these new technology readings cautiously until more evidence links them to clinical outcomes.
“The big switch: building confidence in hypertension care” is a Hypertension Australia webinar where leading experts discuss practical strategies to improve hypertension diagnosis and management in clinical practice, including standardised blood pressure measurement and evidence‑based treatment approaches.
Standardised automated office BP (AOBP) measurements are now universally recommended for the diagnosis and management of hypertension by all clinical practice guidelines. This type of BP measurement provides accurate and reliable BP readings, often lower than conventional office BP measurements.
Nevertheless, the capacity to implement standardised AOBP measurements in clinical practice may vary between settings. This survey aims to identify which elements of the procedure are perceived as implementable and which are perceived as barriers to inform targeted interventions that can enhance implementation.
Please fill out this 10-minute survey listing all elements recommended in the standardised AOBP procedure. Your answers should reflect the degree to which you perceive the element as a barrier to the implementation of standardised AOBP measurements in all of your patients, and not specifically how you currently measure BP.
If you would like to participate in this study, please click on the link below to access the consent form and survey.
Feel free to fill out a survey for each clinical site where you measure BP in an outpatient setting.
High blood pressure often has no symptoms, so you may not realise you have it until you measure your blood pressure. It can also affect more than just your heart – increasing the risk of stroke, kidney disease and even dementia if left untreated.
Regular checks and following your treatment plan are key to keeping your blood pressure under control.
This study explored the knowledge on risk factors and complications of hypertension among the general public.
Read the full study .
Accurate home blood pressure readings depend on selecting a validated monitor with a cuff that fits your arm correctly. A cuff that is too small can overestimate your blood pressure, while a cuff that is too large can underestimate it.
Measure your upper arm at the midpoint between shoulder and elbow and choose a device that matches this size. Upper-arm monitors are generally more accurate, but wrist monitors can be used if a suitable upper-arm cuff is not available.
Before relying on your readings, it is recommended to compare them with measurements taken by a healthcare professional to ensure consistency.
Caffeine can cause a temporary rise in blood pressure, typically peaking 30 minutes to 2 hours after consumption. For most individuals, regular moderate coffee intake is not associated with an increased long‑term risk of hypertension.
Recommendations:
Conclusion: Moderate coffee consumption is generally safe for most adults, but individuals with high blood pressure should monitor their intake and its effects.
Join Hypertension Australia members at the 2026 Hypertension Annual Scientific Meeting in Melbourne from 2-4 December 2026, where you can hear the latest research, engage with colleagues, and be part of a broad scientific and clinical program.
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