Providing independent clinical excellence since 2005
Posted on Monday September 1, 2025 in Metabolic Health
Recommended Home Monitoring Tools and Reading for Patients
Patients often ask about home monitoring equipment—such as ECG devices, blood pressure monitors, glucose tracking apps—as well as useful books to read. Increasingly, doctors are also encouraging individuals to pay closer attention to their waistlines, since visceral adipose tissue (VAT) plays a crucial role in long-term health.
It therefore makes sense to monitor not only your blood pressure, weight, and ECG (if you are prone to arrhythmia), but also your waist circumference. Body composition scales can also be a valuable part of routine self-care at home.
The following list of recommended tools and devices has been compiled by a single cardiologist and does not represent an endorsement by the Surrey Cardiovascular Clinic (SCVC) faculty or reflect a consensus of medical opinion. Patients are encouraged to ask their own physicians for individualised recommendations.
However to support a self-care approach, I have set out below a curated list of products that my patients find useful for home use. Where there is more than one option in a category, items are listed in ascending order of price at the time of writing. For smaller devices—particularly those included in SCVC’s cardiometabolic and general cardiology outpatient services—our team will also aim to keep stock available for purchase or loan, and can assist with set-up and usage.
Please note: this page is based on my own experience and that of my patients. It does not constitute formal guidance or recommendation from Surrey Cardiovascular Clinic Ltd.
Disclosure: If a purchase is made via the Amazon links within 24 hours of a reader clicking the link, the data processing and medical publishing company MedicalSpace Ltd (which I am a majority shareholder) may receive a small sale commission (typically 1–5%) as a participant in the Amazon Associates Programme. In return, I commit to reviewing and updating this list of recommended products on a regular basis.
Dr Edward Leatham
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The Freestyle Libre 2 will give you a good idea of your glucotype, however will miss transient spikes (as samples every 15 minutes)
The Freestyle Libre 3 samples every minute, so won’t miss short glucose spikes, but it is pricier!
This global best seller is an eye-opener. It explains glucose as fuel and its role in our metabolism along with where the human race has gone wrong in nutrition. The book includes many ‘glucose hacks’ that anyone with non diabetic hyperglycaemia or carbohydrate sensitive phenotype (CSP) may find useful optimise their diet to improve health.
Gary Taubes is a well-respected forensic journalist who spent year researching diabetes and the food industry obsession with fats. This book is fascinating read for anyone with an interest in nutrition and certainly explains the history behind the antifat/ pro carbohydrate lobby. It will also explain why there has been a move back to including fats, especially diary, eggs and unsaturated fats, are now considered to essential parts of a healthy diet, even if you have a raised blood LDL Cholesterol.
The medical understanding of a "heart attack" can sometimes diverge from the layperson's perception. Many people interpret a heart attack as any acute, potentially fatal cardiac event, regardless of its cause. This discrepancy necessitates a deeper exploration of heart attack causes unrelated to coronary artery disease, particularly for understanding familial risks and discussing preventative measures like statins.
This post is not for the faint hearted! It is a technical description of how the heart works, and may help some readers/listeners to understand the difference between HFpEF and HFrEF. The main objective of this blog is to emphasise the enormous potential of reducing left ventricular stiffening as we age. This can only be accomplished by paying attention to key health metrics from mid life, all influenced by lifestyle, diet and physical exercise
For a cardiologist, beta blockers are a commonly used medication, possibly because we live in a high stress world and patients come to us with symptoms that are often improved by moderating the biological effects of our own adrenaline on the systems it was designed to protect.