You need to buy a blood pressure monitor, but you don't know which one to choose. Here's a guide to the various types, to help you find the right one for your everyday situation: the pros and cons of each one, how accurate and easy to read they are, and whether they're safe.

Blood pressure is determined directly by the work done by the heart, which acts as a pump absorbing and releasing the blood. Changes in blood pressure depend on the relationship between the quantity of blood pumped by the heart and the resistance of the blood vessels.

Hypertension means high blood pressure, and is the most common cardiovascular risk factor - in other words, the probability of heart attack or stroke. In Italy, according to the most recent statistics, only 35% of people have had this checked, so each year there are many preventable cardiovascular incidents.

Cholesterol is essential for our bodies, but if there is too much in the blood and the liver cannot break it down, it causes atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases which, in its most extreme forms, can provoke heart attacks and strokes. All in all, cholesterol is one of the most controversial substances circulating in our bodies