Kia Ora and Welcome to Bloodpressure.org.nz !
I feel honoured that something attracted you to visit my site.
My name is Johan Rosman and I am a Renal Physician (Specialist for Kidney Diseases) and a Specialist for Hypertension (High Blood pressure). I work in North Shore Hospital and also have a medical practice in the Apollo Centre for Health and Wellness in Albany, Auckland. I have over 20 years of experience in treating patients with kidney disease and hypertension.
For a long time it has been a personal wish to setup a website to specifically inform the general public, as well as enhance discussion with healthcare professionals, about the issues that surround hypertensive disease. My aim was that such a site also stimulate the interaction between the community and the Healthcare Professionals working in that area.
Why a site about High Bloodpressure ?
I think that hypertension deserves far more attention than it currently gets.
Did you know, for example, that high blood pressure is the single most preventable cause of death amongst New Zealanders? And that the consequences of hypertension (being stroke and heart failure) are the most important causes of the loss of quality of life after age 40? And that the costs to New Zealand society is 2.3 billion dollars per year?
This for a disease that is so easy to detect and often easy to treat once the right diagnosis is found. I am of the opinion that everyone of us should know his/her blood pressure and blood cholesterol (fat) levels.
This all is not hard to do, and in fact it is quite easy to be found early and treated to prevent a lot of unnecessary suffering. A healthy future.
If you are a healthcare professional, I invite you to click on the ‘Professional’ part of the website and, for others, I have tried to gather as much information as possible in the ‘public’ part of the website. I offer everyone the opportunity to ask me questions which I will attempt to answer as fast as I can.
On the Professional part of the Website there is a tab, called CME, where I have presentations for download. these are partly Powerpoint and partly PDF files. I gave these presentations to GPs or at University. Feel free to download and use them. i would appreciate it if in that case you mention the source.
I think hypertension deserves our full attention as I regretfully see everyday the consequences of this widespread problem going unnoticed.
I hope my website can be some contribution to this ideal.
My service: The' Interactive Hypertension Clinic'
As a new concept for New Zealand, i would like to intoduce you to my 'Interactive Hypertension Clinic' concept. I offer this special service in my clinic in the Apollo Healthcare Centre in Albany. Hypertension is not a disease that can be treated with a one off visit to your GP or a specialized clinic. Although the best person to treat hypertension is without doubt your GP, difficult to treat hypertension is common and often warrants referral to a specialist clinic. The treatment required is often complex and the use of medication is very different from person to person. The aim is to have an optimal blood pressure with as little tablets as possible. Often treatment of hypertension leads to the trial of one drug after the other and patients find themselves on a large number of tablets with only minimal success. This again creates reluctance in people to follow the advise and once more the hypertension gets worse and the life threatening consequences become visible.
The 'Interactive Clinic' tries to meet the demand of patients and doctors, as the tweaking of the treatment takes place over email, the patient and me being in ongoing close contact. At least once a week I will receive a spreadsheet with the bloodpressures, as recorded at home and via email we communicate the next step. Fewer visits to amy clinic are necessary saving you as the patient costs and time and at the same moment the ongoing feedback reassures patients of proper follow up. Your 'hypertension specialistr' is just an email away. More details about this service on the page 'What can I do for you' under "My Practice'.
If you are reluctant to have the communication per email, for example because you do not work with computers, then we will have a weekly telephone contact at a time at your convenience where we discuss the reults and adjust the medication.
I think this service is unique in New Zealand and the close contact warrants a treatment of your blood pressure that is the safest, cheapest and most efficient way to keep your health optimal with the minimal of medication.
It is my hope that with this specialist clinic I can contribute to a healthier lifestyle and less complications of a severe disease, as hypertension is, in New Zealand.
Johan Rosman