How Is Blood Pressure Measured? – Hypertension Center

When you visit your health care provider, a blood pressure measurement is one of the most important routine tests you’ll have.

Blood pressure is the force exerted by your blood against your arteries. As your heart pumps, it forces blood out through arteries that carry the blood throughout your body. The arteries keep tapering off in size until they become tiny vessels, called capillaries. At the capillary level, oxygen and nutrients are released from your blood and delivered to the organs.

Types of Blood Pressure

There are two types of blood pressure: Systolic blood pressure refers to the pressure inside your arteries when your heart is pumping; diastolic pressure is the pressure inside your arteries when your heart is resting between beats.

When your arteries are healthy and dilated, blood flows easily and your heart doesn’t have to work too hard. But when your arteries are too narrow or stiff, blood pressure rises, the heart gets overworked, and arteries can become damaged.

Measuring Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is measured with an instrument called a sphygmomanometer. First, a cuff is placed around your arm and inflated with a pump until the circulation is cut off. A small valve slowly deflates the cuff, and the doctor measuring blood pressure uses a stethoscope, placed over your arm, to listen for the sound of blood pulsing through the arteries. That first sound of rushing blood refers to the systolic blood pressure; once the sound fades, the second number indicates the diastolic pressure, the blood pressure of your heart at rest.

Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and recorded with the systolic number first, followed by the diastolic number. For example, a normal blood pressure would be recorded as something under 120/80 mm Hg.

Blood pressure readings can be affected by factors like:

• Smoking
• Coffee or other caffeinated drinks
• A full bladder
• Recent physical activity

Blood pressure is also affected by your emotional state and the time of day. Since so many factors can affect blood pressure readings, you should have your blood pressure taken several times to get an accurate measurement.

What Is Normal Blood Pressure?

Experts consider normal blood pressure to be less than 120/80 mm Hg. Based on population data, about 42 percent of American adults have normal blood pressure. At one point, blood pressure at or above 120/80 and less than 140/90 was considered normal to high; these numbers are now considered pre-hypertensive. Blood pressure consistently at or above 140/90 is considered high blood pressure or hypertension.

Blood pressure normally rises as you age and grow. Normal blood pressure readings for children are lower than for adults, while blood pressure measurements for adults and older teenagers are similar.

Blood pressure can also be too low, a condition called hypotension. Hypotension refers to blood pressure lower than 90/60. Symptoms of hypotension include dizziness, fainting, and sometimes shock.

Checking Blood Pressure at Home

Many people can learn to check their blood pressure at home. You can buy blood pressure kits that use the cuffs or electronic digital technology at your pharmacy, a medical supply store, or an online retailer.

Since high blood pressure can exist without any symptoms, it is important to know your numbers. High blood pressure can cause stroke, heart attack, heart failure, and kidney failure.

Getting your blood pressure checked is quick, painless, and one of the most important things you can do to better your health.

What Is High Blood Pressure? Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention

The following can increase your chances of developing high blood pressure.

Older age The risk of high blood pressure increases as you age.

According to the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 70 percent of adults age 65 or older have hypertension. (2)

The risk of prehypertension and high blood pressure has been increasing in recent years in young people, too, including children and teens, possibly because of the rise of obesity in these populations. (3)

Race High blood pressure is more common in Black American adults than in white or Hispanic American adults.

Family history Having a family history of high blood pressure increases your risk, as the condition tends to run in families.

Being overweight The more you weigh, the more blood you need to supply oxygen and nutrients to your tissues. As the volume of blood circulating through your blood vessels increases, so does the pressure on your artery walls. Obesity — especially abdominal obesity — also increases stiffness in arteries, which raises blood pressure. (4)

Lack of physical activity People who are inactive tend to have a higher heart rate and higher blood pressure than those who are physically active. Not exercising also increases the risk of being overweight.

Tobacco use When you smoke or chew tobacco, your blood pressure rises temporarily. Moreover, chemicals in tobacco can damage the lining of your artery walls, which can cause your arteries to narrow, increasing your blood pressure. Being exposed to secondhand smoke may also increase your blood pressure.

Dietary choices What you choose to eat (and not to eat) can increase your risk for hypertension, including in the following ways:

• Too much sodium can cause your body to retain fluid, which increases blood pressure.
• Since potassium helps balance the amount of sodium in your cells, not getting enough of it can raise blood pressure.
• While studies are limited, it’s thought that vitamin D may affect an enzyme produced by your kidneys that in turns affects your blood pressure, so having too little D may be harmful.

Alcohol consumption Drinking more than two drinks a day for men and more than one drink a day for women may raise your blood pressure.

Stress Being under intense stress can lead to a temporary increase in blood pressure. Moreover, if you try to cope with stress by overeating, using tobacco, or drinking alcohol, all these can contribute to your high blood pressure.

Chronic conditions Having kidney disease, sleep apnea, or diabetes can affect blood pressure.

Pregnancy Being pregnant can cause an increase in blood pressure. (5)

Birth control Women who take birth control pills are at greater risk of developing high blood pressure. It’s more likely to occur when women are overweight, have had high blood pressure during a previous pregnancy, have a family history of blood pressure, smoke, or have mild kidney disease. (6)

Causes of Secondary Hypertension

When high blood pressure arises suddenly due to an identifiable condition, it’s called secondary hypertension.

Some conditions and drugs can lead to secondary hypertension, including the following:

• Kidney problems
• Adrenal gland tumors
• Thyroid problems
• Blood vessel defects
• Obstructive sleep apnea
• Alcohol abuse or chronic alcohol use
• Illegal drugs, including cocaine and amphetamines (5)

Drugs That Can Cause High Blood Pressure

Medication that you take to control other health conditions, such as arthritis, epilepsy, or allergies, can cause your blood pressure to rise.

Such medication can also interfere with the ability of anti-hypertension drugs to keep blood pressure down.

Below are some of the drugs that may negatively affect blood pressure.

Pain medication Common pain and anti-inflammatory medicines can lead to the retention of water, which can create problems with the kidneys and higher blood pressure.

Examples include:

Antidepressants These drugs work by changing the body’s response to chemicals that affect mood. This can also lead to an increase in blood pressure.

Examples of antidepressants that may elevate blood pressure include:

Decongestants These medicines, which include common cough, cold, and allergy drugs, are known to raise blood pressure and to alter the effectiveness of high blood pressure medication.

Examples include pseudoephedrine (Sudafed, Contac) and phenylephrine (Sudafed PE).

Hormones Birth control pills can also affect blood pressure. Women who take birth control pills usually experience a small rise in systolic and diastolic blood pressure (the top and bottom numbers that are determined when you get your blood pressure checked).

Hormone therapy used to relieve symptoms of menopause can also cause a small rise in systolic blood pressure.

If you know you have high blood pressure, but are considering hormone therapy, talk with your doctor about the risks and benefits of undergoing hormone therapy, as well as the best ways to control your blood pressure.

Additionally, some recreational and illegal drugs, such as cocaine, ecstasy (MDMA), and amphetamines, are also known to increase blood pressure. (6,7)

High-Flavanol Diet Linked to Lower Blood Pressure

Eating lots of foods with flavanols — antioxidants found in certain fruits, veggies, tea, and cocoa — may be good for your blood pressure, according to a study published in October 2020 in Scientific Reports.

Researchers examined data on blood pressure and cardiovascular disease as well as results from urine tests, looking for biomarkers of flavan-3-ol — a substance that indicates how much flavanol is in the diet — for more than 25,000 adults in the U.K.

Systolic blood pressure — the “top number,” which shows how much pressure blood exerts on artery walls when the heart beats — was about 1.9 millimeters of mercury (mmHG) lower in men and about 2.5 mmHG lower in women with the highest flavanol intake than it was among their counterparts with the lowest flavanol intake.

Differences in blood pressure associated with a high-flavanol diet were more pronounced in older adults and in people diagnosed with hypertension than in younger individuals and those with normal blood pressure, the study also found.

“Our study shows for the first time that flavanols consumed as part of the normal diet are associated with lower blood pressure,” says senior study author Gunter Kuhnle of the department of food and nutritional sciences at the University of Reading in the U.K.

Pros and Cons of This Study Design

One advantage of this study is that it used urine tests to estimate how much flavonal people had in their diets — many other studies looking at health benefits of various eating patterns rely instead on food diaries or surveys that aren’t always an accurate picture of how people really eat, Kuhnle and colleagues write. In those cases, people often report healthier eating habits than they really have.

Another strength of using biomarkers instead of self-reported dietary information is that the amount of flavanols in a particular food or drink can vary. For example, there can be anywhere from 10 to 330 milligrams (mg) of flavanols in 100 grams (g) of tea, the researchers point out.

“Using nutritional biomarkers to estimate the intake of bioactive food compounds has long been seen as the gold standard for research, as it allows intake to be measured objectively,” Kuhnle says.

The biggest limitation of the study is that results from this study in the U.K. — where tea is the main source of dietary flavanols — may not reflect what would happen in other populations where people tend to favor different foods and beverages.

An additional limitation is that researchers looked at urine tests for flavanol intake at only a single point in time, and it’s possible that eating habits changed over time in ways that might impact blood pressure or cardiovascular disease risk, the researchers point out.

It’s also worth noting that the study was funded by candymaker Mars Inc., where two of the authors work.

What Other Studies Say About Flavanols, Diet, and Blood Pressure

Earlier studies have found flavanols may help reduce stiffness in arteries, cholesterol, blood pressure, and the risk of developing or dying from cardiovascular disease, according to a review published in June 2018 in Molecular Aspects of Medicine. In particular, this review linked flavanols in cocoa and tea with these heart-healthy benefits.

The blood pressure reduction seen with flavanols in the current study is comparable to what some earlier research found with two heart-healthy diets, the Mediterranean diet and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, Kuhnle says.

A Mediterranean diet emphasizes consumption of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, fish, nuts, and olive oil and other healthy fats, according to the Mayo Clinic. It also advises dairy in moderation, and limited red and processed meats. The DASH diet takes these ideas further, by recommending the number of servings per week for different foods and limiting sodium intake.

One study, published in 2013 in BMC Medicine, found that following a Mediterranean diet reduced diastolic blood pressure — the “bottom number,” which indicates how much pressure blood exerts on artery walls when the heart rests between beats — by 1.5 mmHg. This trial didn’t find a connection between the Mediterranean diet and systolic blood pressure, however.

An older study, from the New England Journal of Medicine, found that when people tried to cut their sodium intake to the lowest level possible, following a DASH diet reduced systolic blood pressure more than eating in other ways — by 11.5 mmHg more for people with hypertension and by 7.1 mmHg more for people without hypertension. When people tried to reduce sodium intake from high levels to intermediate levels, the DASH diet reduced systolic blood pressure by 2. 1 mmHg.

“A sustained 2 mmHg reduction in blood pressure would have a large benefit on a population level — so from a public health perspective, that is a meaningful number,” says Deepak Bhatt, MD, MPH, executive director of interventional cardiovascular programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Heart & Vascular Center and a professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

“However, for an individual, that would be less than what some people will experience with salt restriction or specifically with the Mediterranean or DASH diets,” says Dr. Bhatt, who wasn’t involved in the new flavanol study.

What Flavanol-Rich Foods Are Best for Lowering Blood Pressure?

Flavanols are part of a large family of compounds found in plants such as fruit, vegetables, beans, grains, and nuts, says Samantha Heller, RD, a senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Langone Health in New York City, who wasn’t involved in the current study.

“In foods, these compounds have been found to confer many health benefits, including reducing the risk of certain diseases like cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and certain cancers,” Heller says. “They act as powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents.”

To get the benefits of flavanols from sources such as cocoa and tea, it’s best to have unprocessed forms without lots of added sugar, cream, and other additives, Heller advises. This is especially true for cocoa and chocolate.

People who want to use diet to help lower their blood pressure should think of increasing flavanols as part of an overall healthy eating pattern, Heller advises.

“We eat foods, not single nutrients, and it is important to note that our dietary patterns play a big role in our intake of flavanols and other healthy plant compounds,” Heller says. “Adopting the DASH or Mediterranean dietary pattern is a great way of increasing one’s intake of flavanols as well as fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other healthy plant chemicals, and to help reduce blood pressure and the risk of other chronic diseases. ”

What Low Blood Pressure Means and When It’s an Emergency

• Low blood pressure is defined by a blood pressure reading of 90/60 mm Hg or lower, but a reading this low isn’t necessarily a cause for concern.
• It becomes a concern if you start to exhibit symptoms of dizziness, shortness of breath, or fainting; if this happens, you should seek medical attention. 
• In some cases, low blood pressure can be a symptom of a more serious condition like sepsis or Addison’s disease.
• This article was reviewed by John Osborne, MD, PhD, and the Director of Cardiology for Dallas-based State of the Heart Cardiology.
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Blood pressure is a measure of the force of blood moving through your artery walls. When that force is too low, your vital organs may not be getting the right amount of blood flow they need to function. 

Here’s what you need to know about what might cause low blood pressure and when it is considered an emergency.

What low blood pressure means

Hypotension is the medical term for low blood pressure, which is typically defined by a blood pressure reading of 90/60 mm Hg or lower. For reference, a normal blood pressure range is around 100/60 mm Hg to 120/80 mm Hg. 

Low blood pressure with no symptoms is rarely a cause for concern, says Nicole Weinberg, MD, a cardiologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center. In fact, some people have chronic low blood pressure, but feel fine, and do not need to be treated. 

However, if low blood pressure is combined with symptoms of dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath, or lightheadedness, it could be a sign that you need medical attention.

The exact cause of low blood pressure is not always clear, Weinberg says, but some common causes include: 

• Side effects from over-the-counter or prescription medications, including drugs used to treat high blood pressure, like diuretics, as well as tricyclic antidepressants and erectile dysfunction drugs
• Pregnancy (often in the first 24 weeks), due to hormonal changes and expansion of the circulatory system 
• Other hormone changes, including issues with the hormone-producing glands in the endocrine system 
• Dehydration, heat exhaustion, or heat stroke 

In addition, postural or orthostatic hypotension can occur when you quickly rise from a sitting or lying down position, causing a sudden drop in blood pressure and feelings of lightheadedness. This can last for just a few minutes or it can be more severe and cause fainting. 

In fact, Parkinson’s disease can impair the body’s ability to automatically adjust blood pressure when changing positions, resulting in bouts of orthostatic hypotension. About one in five people with Parkinson’s are affected by orthostatic hypotension. 

Weinberg says orthostatic hypotension usually isn’t a medical emergency unless it persists and you consistently feel lightheaded when you stand. For someone experiencing an isolated episode of hypotension, Weinberg advises lying down, eating a salty snack, and drinking water — since fluids increase blood volume and can help get your blood pressure back to normal. 

When low blood pressure is an emergency 

If you frequently experience symptoms of low blood pressure, such as dizziness or fainting spells, you should consult a doctor. While low blood pressure, itself, usually isn’t fatal, there are serious medical situations where it is considered an emergency, and you should go to the hospital. 

“The likelihood of dying from low blood pressure is low unless it is related to another disease process,” Weinberg says.

For example, a blood infection, or sepsis, can result in low blood pressure. Sepsis occurs when the chemicals released by the body to fight an infection trigger widespread inflammation, resulting in blood clotting that reduces blood flow to vital organs, such as your heart, kidneys, and brain. This can progress to septic shock and very low blood pressure, which may be fatal, and should be treated immediately. 

Low blood pressure can also be affiliated with Addison’s disease — a disorder in which the adrenal glands do not produce enough cortisol, a hormone that helps your body respond to stress. Lack of cortisol production can cause addisonian crisis, which is characterized by low blood pressure and can be fatal without proper treatment.   

The treatment for low blood pressure varies depending on the cause. In severe cases, someone might need intravenous therapy (IV) to deliver fluids into the veins and raise blood pressure. In critical situations, such as septic shock, doctors may use drug therapies either orally or through an IV to quickly raise blood pressure. 

Low Blood Pressure (Hypotension) | CS Mott Children’s Hospital

Topic Overview

What is low blood pressure?

Low blood pressure means that your blood pressure is lower than normal. Another name for low blood pressure is hypotension (say “hy-poh-TEN-shun”).

In most healthy adults, low blood pressure does not cause problems or symptoms. In fact, it may be normal for you. For example, people who exercise regularly often have lower blood pressure than people who are not as fit.

But if your blood pressure drops suddenly or causes symptoms like dizziness or fainting, it is too low. It can cause shock. Shock can be dangerous if it is not treated right away.

Blood pressure is a measure of how hard the blood pushes against the walls of your arteries as it moves through your body. Blood pressure consists of two numbers: systolic and diastolic.

• The systolic (higher) number shows how hard the blood pushes when the heart is pumping.
• The diastolic (lower) number shows how hard the blood pushes between heartbeats, when the heart is relaxed and filling with blood.

Someone with a systolic pressure of 120 and a diastolic pressure of 80 has a blood pressure of 120/80, or “120 over 80.” Normal blood pressure is lower than 120/80.

Low blood pressure does not have a specific number where it is too low. Most doctors consider blood pressure to be too low when it causes symptoms or drops suddenly. In general, low blood pressure symptoms happen when blood pressure is less than 90/60.

What causes low blood pressure?

Some of the causes of low blood pressure include:

• Getting up after you sit or lie down. This can cause a quick drop in blood pressure called orthostatic hypotension.
• Standing for a long time.
• Not drinking enough fluids (dehydration).
• Medicines, such as high blood pressure medicine or other heart medicines.
• Health problems such as thyroid disease, severe infection, bleeding in the intestines, or heart problems.
• Trauma, such as major bleeding or severe burns.

What are the symptoms?

Many people with low blood pressure don’t have any symptoms.

Symptoms to watch for include:

• Feeling dizzy, lightheaded, or faint.
• Feeling sick to your stomach or vomiting.
• Feeling more thirsty than usual.
• Having blurry vision.
• Feeling weak.
• Being confused.
• Being tired.
• Having cold, clammy skin.
• Breathing very fast.

If you have symptoms of low blood pressure, especially dizziness or fainting, call your doctor.

Watch for symptoms of low blood pressure. Tell your doctor when the symptoms happen so he or she can treat them.

How is low blood pressure diagnosed?

Often people learn that they have low blood pressure when their doctor checks it. Or you may find that you have low blood pressure when you check it at home.

To check for the causes of your low blood pressure, your doctor will ask about your past health, your symptoms, and the medicines you take. He or she will do a physical exam and may do other tests. Your doctor may check for another health problem that could be causing your low blood pressure.

Will your doctor treat low blood pressure?

You will likely get treated for low blood pressure only if it is causing symptoms or if your blood pressure drops suddenly. Treatment depends on your symptoms, how severe they are, and the reasons for the low blood pressure.

Your doctor may have you:

• Add more salt to your diet.
• Get fluid through an intravenous (IV) line if you are very dehydrated.
• Change or stop medicines that lower your blood pressure.
• Take medicine to treat the problem that is causing low blood pressure. For example, you may need antibiotics to treat infection or medicines to stop vomiting or diarrhea.

Be sure to talk with your doctor before you add more salt to your diet or make any changes in your medicines.

How can you prevent low blood pressure symptoms?

If you have orthostatic hypotension, your doctor may suggest that you try some simple ways to prevent symptoms like dizziness. For example, you can:

• Stand up slowly.
• Drink more water.
• Drink little or no alcohol.
• Limit or avoid caffeine.
• Wear compression stockings.

If you feel dizzy or lightheaded, sit down or lie down for a few minutes. Or you can sit down and put your head between your knees. This will help your blood pressure go back to normal and help your symptoms go away.

Diastolic blood pressure: How low is too low? – News

Low diastolic blood pressure is a risk factor for new-onset heart failure in older adults. UAB cardiologist Jason Guichard explains why that might be, the causes of low diastolic pressure and how to deal with it.

Written by: Matt Windsor
Media contact: Adam Pope

Blood pressure consists of two numbers. Systolic pressure, the force exerted on blood vessels when the heart beats, is the upper number. Diastolic pressure, the force exerted when the heart is at rest, is on the bottom — in more ways than one. Systolic pressure attracts the lion’s share of attention from physicians and patients, says UAB cardiologist Jason Guichard, M.D., Ph.D.

“Physicians are busy people, and like it or not they often focus on a single number,” Guichard said. “Systolic blood pressure is the focus, and diastolic pressure is almost completely ignored.” That is a mistake, he argues. “The majority of your arteries feed your organs during systole. But your coronary arteries are different; they are surrounding the aortic valve, so they get blood only when the aortic valve closes — and that happens in diastole.”

Diastolic pressure has been getting more attention lately, however, thanks in part to an influential paper in Hypertension, written in 2011 by Guichard and Ali Ahmed, M.D., then a professor of medicine in UAB’s Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Care and now the associate chief of staff for Health and Aging at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C. (Ahmed remains an adjunct faculty member at UAB.)

INFOGRAPHIC: See our quick guide to causes, and treatments, for low diastolic blood pressure.

That paper coined a new term, “isolated diastolic hypotension,” which refers to a low diastolic blood pressure (less than 60 mm Hg) and a normal systolic pressure (above 100 mm Hg). Older adults who fit those conditions are at increased risk for developing new-onset heart failure, the researchers found.

“High blood pressure is a problem, but low blood pressure is also a problem,” Guichard said. That realization helped drive a 2014 decision by the panel members appointed to the Eighth Joint National Committee (JNC 8) to relax target blood pressure guidelines for those over 60 years old. [Read Guichard’s take on “ideal blood pressure” and the new guidelines in this blog post.]

“Years ago and until recently, doctors were treating blood pressure so aggressively that many patients couldn’t even stand up without getting dizzy,” Guichard said. “We want to empower patients to know that you don’t have to drop those numbers all the way down to nothing, to the point where you can’t play with your grandkids or play golf or take a simple walk around the block because your blood pressure is so low. I think it’s important to raise awareness in this area, especially for older people.”

Jason GuichardAhmed and Guichard are continuing to explore the mechanisms behind low diastolic pressure in more detail. Several new papers are pending, Guichard says. In the meantime, he sat down with The Mix to explain the dangers associated with low blood pressure.

Most people are trying to lower their blood pressure. What would you define as “too low,” and why is that a problem?

A diastolic blood pressure of somewhere between 90 and 60 is good in older folks. Once you start getting below 60, that makes people feel uncomfortable. A lot of older folks with low diastolic pressures get tired or dizzy and have frequent falls. Obviously, none of that is good news for people who are older, who potentially have brittle bones and other issues.

Your coronary arteries are fed during the diastolic phase. If you have a low diastolic pressure, it means you have a low coronary artery pressure, and that means your heart is going to lack blood and oxygen. That is what we call ischemia, and that kind of chronic, low-level ischemia may weaken the heart over time and potentially lead to heart failure.

What could cause a person to have low diastolic blood pressure?

Medications are a big one. There are some medicines that are culprits for lowering your diastolic blood pressure more than your systolic — specifically, a class of medications called alpha blockers, or central acting anti-hypertensive agents.

Another reason is age. As you get older, your vessels become a little more stiff, and that tends to raise your systolic pressure and lower your diastolic pressure.

It’s hard to reverse the aging process; but one potential therapy is to find ways to allow your vessels to retain their elasticity — or, if they’ve lost it, maybe ways to gain that back.

The best current treatment is to lower dietary salt intake, which has been shown to be very closely linked with the elasticity of your vessels. The more salt you eat, the less elastic your vessels will be. Most peoples’ salt intake is too high. Salt intake is a highly debated topic in medicine, but most believe that dietary salt intake of greater than 4 grams per day is too high, and less than 1.5 grams per day is too low. This depends on a person’s age and underlying medical problems, but this range is a good rule of thumb. There is some data that the ideal salt intake for healthy people is around 3.6 grams per day, but again this is highly debated. 

UAB’s hypertension group, led by Dr. Suzanne Oparil and Dr. David Calhoun, has detailed much of the basic science showing the effect of salt at a molecular level in the blood vessels. On the inside, your blood vessels are lined with a thin monolayer of endothelial cells. In an experimental setting, adding salt to these cells causes changes almost immediately. They become less reactive — that means they stiffen up — and lose their elasticity, which is what you actually see clinically.

Additionally, the stiffening of the vessels happens very soon after you take on a salt load during eating, which is very interesting.

Beyond changes in medications, what can people do to raise their diastolic pressure if it’s too low?

Lifestyle changes like diet and exercise can have immediate effects. Your inside changes much quicker than the mirror shows you. On the inside, you’re getting much more healthy by eating better, getting exercise, controlling your weight and not smoking.

Everyone thinks, “I’m going to have to do this for six months or a year before I see any changes.” That’s not true. The body is very dynamic. Within a few weeks, you can see the benefits of lifestyle change. In fact, with dietary changes in salt intake, you can see a difference in a day or two.

If someone does have low diastolic pressure, what should they — and their doctors — look for?

If they aren’t on medications that we could adjust, the important thing is close monitoring; maybe seeing a patient more frequently in clinic and monitoring them closely for cardiovascular disease or heart failure symptoms.

Your original study in Hypertension got a lot of attention. What are you working on now?

We’re finalizing some papers that address two big criticisms of that study. The first criticism was that we were looking strictly, as the name suggests, at isolated diastolic hypotension. We didn’t really care at the time what the systolic pressure was doing; but a high systolic pressure is a risk for heart failure, among other things. When we looked at the patients in our study, their systolic blood pressures were all relatively normal, and we adjusted for patients with a history of hypertension.

So we actually went back and redid the analysis, completely excluding people with hypertension. And the results still remained true. In fact, the association was even stronger.

The other criticism involved something called pulse pressure. That’s the difference between your systolic and diastolic blood pressure. And multiple studies have shown that a widened pulse pressure is also a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Some fellow researchers said, “Really, all you’re looking at is just a wider pulse pressure. This isn’t necessarily novel — that’s been shown before.”

So we’ve actually looked at pulse pressure differences in all these patients and broken them down by differences in pulse pressure. And even when we adjusted for pulse pressure, the conclusion about the low diastolic pressure still rang true.

We actually looked at three different groups of pulse pressure — normal, wide and really wide. And it was true throughout. Low diastolic blood pressure increased one’s risk for heart failure.

You also have an interest in diastolic heart failure. What is that?

There are two different types of heart failure: one where the pumping function of the heart is abnormal — that is known as systolic heart failure — and one where the relaxation function is abnormal — that is known as diastolic heart failure. We have lots of medicines for, and experience treating, systolic heart failure, which is also called “heart failure with reduced ejection fraction” — everything from beta blockers, ACE inhibitors and ARBs to mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists and statins.

Diastolic heart failure, or “heart failure with preserved ejection fraction,” has no approved pharmacologic therapies to date. It was widely overlooked, to be honest, until about 10-15 years ago, when physicians realized that these poor patients were having terrible heart-failure symptoms but none of the classic objective measures of heart failure. In most cases, you can’t even tell the difference between a person with systolic and diastolic heart failure based on their symptoms. On the inside, however, their heart is pumping just fine; the problem is their heart is stiff — it doesn’t relax as well as it should. That stiffness leads fluid to back up into the lungs and extremities and causes a lot of the symptoms that you have with systolic heart failure, but the pumping function of the heart is normal.

Now that there is an awareness of diastolic heart failure, we’re realizing that it is a very common problem. It looks like there are as many people with diastolic heart failure as with systolic heart failure. As a matter of fact, there may even be more people with diastolic heart failure.

It has become a heavily studied form of heart failure right now. Everyone is clamoring to get a medicine to help these patients, because it turns out to be very prevalent, and a lot of times they have the same morbidity and mortality as people with systolic heart failure.

Make an appointment with a UAB doctor

Low Blood Pressure | NHLBI, NIH

Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries as the heart pumps blood. It is usually described as two numbers: systolic and diastolic. The numbers record blood pressure in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), with systolic listed above diastolic. For most adults, a healthy blood pressure is usually less than 120/80 mm Hg. Low blood pressure is blood pressure that is lower than 90/60 mm Hg.

Some people have low blood pressure all the time, and it is normal for them. Other people experience a sudden drop in blood pressure or have low blood pressure that may be linked to a health problem. Many systems of the body, including organs, hormones, and nerves, regulate blood pressure. For example, the autonomic nervous system sends the “fight-or-flight” signal that, depending on the situation, tells the heart and other systems in the body to increase or decrease blood pressure. Problems with the autonomic nervous system, such as in Parkinson’s disease, can cause low blood pressure.

Other causes of low blood pressure include medicines, bleeding, aging, and conditions such as dehydration, pregnancy, diabetes, and heart problems. Older adults have a higher risk for symptoms of low blood pressure, such as falling, fainting, or dizziness upon standing up or after a meal. Older adults are also more likely to develop low blood pressure as a side effect of medicines taken to control high blood pressure.

For many people, low blood pressure goes unnoticed. Others feel light-headed, confused, tired, or weak. You may have blurry vision, a headache, neck or back pain, nausea, or heart palpitations. Sitting down may relieve these symptoms. If blood pressure drops too low, the body’s vital organs do not get enough oxygen and nutrients. When this happens, low blood pressure can lead to shock, which requires immediate medical attention. Signs of shock include cold and sweaty skin, rapid breathing, a blue skin tone, or a weak and rapid pulse. If you notice signs of shock in yourself or someone else, call 9-1-1.

Your doctor will use a blood pressure test to diagnose low blood pressure. Other tests may include blood, urine, or imaging tests and a tilt table test if you faint often. You may not need treatment for low blood pressure. Depending on your signs and symptoms, treatment may include drinking more fluids, taking medicines to raise your blood pressure, or adjusting medicines that cause low blood pressure. Recommended lifestyle changes include changing what and how you eat and how you sit and stand up. Your doctor may also recommend compression stockings if you have to stand for long periods.

Visit Low Blood Pressure for more information about this topic.

90,000 Blood pressure – norm and pathology

from 14 to 24 May as part of the Year of the Heart at the MUSH City Hospital No. 1

named. G.I. Drobyshev is holding an information and practical action

Learn to control your blood pressure.

One of the most common health complaints and one of the most “favorite” diseases among the elderly is high blood pressure. This pathology can explain any changes in well-being, bad mood and other troubles.Blood pressure can rise and fall several times in the course of one day, and a person’s normal blood pressure is a purely individual concept.

What is blood pressure and what values ​​are considered normal?

Blood pressure is a general concept that determines the force with which blood presses on the walls of blood vessels, it is more correct to call it – blood pressure, because the pressure matters not only in the arteries, but also in the veins and capillaries.But it is possible to measure without the help of special devices only the pressure in large vessels located on the surface of the body – in the arteries.

Blood pressure – HELL – depends on how fast and forceful the human heart is contracting, how much blood it can pump in one minute, on the properties of the blood itself and the resistance of the vascular walls.

Factors influencing the value of blood pressure:

• the ability of the heart to contract with sufficient force and ensure the normal release of blood through the vessels;
• on the rheological properties of blood – the “thicker” the blood, the more difficult it moves through the vessels, diseases such as diabetes mellitus, increased coagulability, greatly impede blood flow and can lead to problems with blood pressure, with thick blood, some doctors prescribe leech treatment ;
• elasticity of the walls of blood vessels – blood vessels wear out over time and cannot withstand increased stress – this becomes the cause of the development of hypertension in elderly people,
• atherosclerotic changes – reduce the elasticity of the walls;
• a sharp narrowing or dilation of blood vessels – as a result of nervous shocks or hormonal changes, a sharp narrowing or expansion of blood vessels is possible – for example, with fear, anger or other strong emotions;
• diseases of the endocrine glands.

Normal pressure is determined by a combination of a large number of parameters, and for each age, gender and for an individual, its indicators can vary greatly. For medical standards, average indicators are taken from healthy people of a certain age. It has long been proven that a pressure of 120/80 cannot and should not be considered the ideal norm for people of different ages.

To find out what normal blood pressure a person should have at different age periods, you can use the following table.

Indicators of blood pressure of an adult:

• Normal blood pressure is considered in the range from 110/70 to 130/85 mm. rt. Art.
• Reduced normal pressure – 110 \ 70 – 100 \ 60;
• Low blood pressure – hypotension – below 100 \ 60;
• Increased normal pressure – 130 \ 85- 139 \ 89;
• High blood pressure – hypertension – more than 140 \ 90 mm. rt. Art.

Indicators of normal blood pressure for different age periods:

• 16 – 20 years old – 100 \ 70 – 120 \ 80 mm.rt. Art.
• 20 – 40 years old – 120 \ 70-130 \ 80;
• 40 -60 – up to 140 \ 90;
• over 60 years old – up to 150 \ 90 mm. rt. Art.

From the above table, it can be seen that the older a person is, the higher the normal blood pressure, this is due to age-related changes in blood vessels, in the heart muscle and in other organs. High blood pressure, as well as low blood pressure, can cause various health problems, but in order to determine whether a change in pressure level is to blame for feeling unwell, it is necessary to measure it regularly and keep a special diary.For this, several trips to the clinic or doctor’s visits are not enough, only daily regular blood pressure measurements can give correct results.

Measurement.

The correctness of the diagnosis and the appointment of treatment largely depends on the correct measurement of blood pressure, because the doctor, when prescribing a medicine or prescribing treatment, is largely guided by the measurement numbers.

Today there are different ways of measuring pressure:

1. The simplest and oldest – using a cuff and a tonometer – here it is of great importance to correctly apply the cuff, the ability to use a tonometer and listen to heart sounds.Such a measurement requires special training and skills, but when used correctly, it gives fairly accurate and reliable results.
2. Electrotonometer – the principle of operation is the same, but the results are visible on a special display. This makes it easier to measure the pressure yourself and provides more accurate results. But such blood pressure monitors often break down and may show incorrect numbers.

Whichever way the blood pressure is measured, a few general rules must be followed:

• before measurement, half an hour before the start, exclude physical activity, nervous tension, smoking, eating, and so on,
• relax, sit comfortably while measuring,
• the posture should be comfortable, the back should be straight, support is required, the arm should lie freely at the level of the patient’s chest,
• you cannot talk or move during measurement,
• Measurement should be carried out on both hands and it is desirable to carry out a series of measurements with an interval of 5-10 minutes.

If, after a correctly performed blood pressure measurement, the readings differ greatly from the norm, you need to repeat the measurements within a few days and, upon confirmation, consult a doctor.

High blood pressure.

Considered one of the most dangerous diseases of mankind, about 25% of people around the world suffer from hypertension, and this figure continues to increase. Hypertension is called an increase in blood pressure above 140/90 mm.rt. Art. Hypertension can be caused by:

• overweight,
• genetic predisposition,
• diseases of internal organs,
• physical inactivity,
• smoking and drinking,
• Excessive use of table salt,
• nervous strain,
• other factors.

With hypertension, the patient suffers from headaches (and here the pills for headaches will not help), shortness of breath, heart pain, increased fatigue, insomnia, poor health and other symptoms.In addition, the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, brain damage, pathology of the urinary system and eye diseases increases.

Treatment of hypertension is a very complex and time-consuming process, where the outcome of diseases depends on compliance with the doctor’s recommendations. It is important to find the cause of the increase in pressure and act on it. Simultaneously providing symptomatic treatment. In each case, drugs, doses and their combination should be selected individually by the attending physician.

Without timely treatment or uncontrolled administration of drugs, hypertension can not only severely damage health, but also cause such a life-threatening condition as a hypertensive crisis.

Hypertensive crisis.

Hypertensive crisis is a life-threatening condition caused by a sharp increase in blood pressure and damage to the nervous system and target organs. The numbers of blood pressure in a hypertensive crisis can vary greatly in different patients – someone normally tolerates 200 \ 150 mm.rt. Art, but for someone it is already bad at 150 \ 85 mm. rt. Art. The nature of the lesions in GC depends on the organs in which the pathology was previously – if the heart ached, myocardial infarction may occur, if tormented – headaches – then a stroke, and so on.

The reasons for the Civil Code can be:

• psycho-emotional overstrain,
• physical activity,
• meteorological changes,
• alcohol intake,
• plentiful food with high salt content,
• Incorrectly selected antihypertensive drugs,
• diseases of the endocrine system and internal organs.

With the development of HA, the patient’s state of health sharply worsens, there is a feeling of fear, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, darkness before the eyes, edema and hyperemia of the face, chills, tremors of the extremities, fainting, up to coma may appear.

If such symptoms appear, you need to lay the patient on any flat surface with a raised headboard and urgently call an ambulance. Before she arrives, try to provide the patient with peace, an influx of fresh air, get rid of constraining clothing, if the patient has long been suffering from hypertension, then most likely he is taking some kind of antihypertensive drug, in this case, you can give the patient the usual dosage before arrival.

Hypotension, low blood pressure.

For many people, especially those with hypertension, it seems that lowering blood pressure may not be a problem, but in fact it is not. Constantly lowered blood pressure can cause no less inconvenience and cause health problems than hypertension.

The causes of such a pathology can be a hereditary predisposition, poor nutrition and vitamin deficiency, endocrine diseases, nervous tension, general exhaustion of the body and other problems.

A person suffering from hypotension constantly feels tired, overwhelmed, he can hardly perform his daily duties and is emotionally inhibited. In addition, there is a decrease in memory and brain activity, poor thermoregulation, increased sweating, headaches, drowsiness, pain in joints and muscles, a general disturbance of well-being.

Although, unlike hypertension, hypotension does not cause serious health problems, it also needs treatment. And only a doctor can determine the cause of hypotension and prescribe treatment, after a detailed examination.And without medical help, you can advise to establish a regime of work and rest, eat well, not get nervous and give up bad habits.

Original article http://tibet-medicine.ru/sovrmed/normalnoe-davlenie-cheloveka

Dangerous pressure

Heart disease is the leading cause of total mortality in Russia and in many other countries of the world.

Among the main risk factors for these diseases, experts consider hypertension, the main manifestation of which is high blood pressure.

In addition to negatively affecting heart function, high blood pressure (hypertension) can affect almost all organs and systems in the human body. According to Stanislav Kotlyarov, a family doctor at the Scandinavia clinic, in addition to the heart, which in case of hypertension is forced to constantly work under conditions of increased stress, the main “target organs” are the kidneys, the retina and the brain.

Floating rate

As Elena Parfenova, a physician-therapist of the highest category of the “Capital-Policy” medical center, said, there are generally accepted norms that reflect normal blood pressure data in a healthy person.

“120/80 is considered to be an average figure, but this is an average figure, variability is allowed,” explains Amina Platunova, head of the medical service of Lakhta Clinic LLC.

In particular, for different age groups, blood pressure standards may differ significantly. If for young men from 20 to 30 years old, 124/77 mm Hg is considered normal, then after 80 years the pressure in the stronger sex increases to 145/83 mm Hg.In healthy women under 30, blood pressure should be lower than that of their peers of the opposite sex. It is at around 117/73 mm Hg, but after 80 years, 158/83 Hg is considered normal. Elena Parfenova explains a similar difference in the standard of blood pressure indicators for people of different age groups by the fact that over the years, certain physiological changes occur in the body associated with wear and tear of blood vessels, hormonal changes and other factors.

However, according to Amina Platunova, if the patient is elderly and used to living with high numbers, then it is not worth artificially lowering blood pressure to target values, since this is often fraught with complications. Stanislav Kotlyarov believes that sudden pressure drops are much more dangerous – in particular, when taking a large dose of drugs that are prescribed for hypertensive crises.

“This can often lead to a stroke, and constant and daily therapy can protect against this,” says Stanislav Kotlyarov.Elena Parfenova also notes that blood pressure is practically never the same in both young and old people – it changes by 5-10 units both in one direction and in the other. “Such phenomena are explained by physical exertion, stressful situations, the use of certain foods or drinks (alcohol, coffee), as well as the use of certain drugs that cause a spasmodic or vasodilating effect,” says Elena Parfenova.

Signal of imminent trouble

Due to the fact that normal pressure is a certain range of values ​​depending on each specific person, then deviations from the norm lie in a certain interval.”There is a concept of prehypertension – a borderline state, which, if measures are not taken, easily reaches arterial hypertension. It is dangerous because it often does not manifest itself – a person feels as usual,” says Elena Parfenova. This situation can last for many years, however, according to Stanislav Kotlyarov, even at this asymptomatic moment, damage to the blood vessels and the heart can already be detected. “It is not for nothing that hypertension is called the” silent killer “; many people do not even suspect that they have had it for a long time.High blood pressure can cause headaches or vomiting, but this is rare. And the only way that will help determine hypertension is continuous control of blood pressure, “says Stanislav Kotlyarov. In particular, patients with jumping pressure are recommended to keep a diary of monitoring indicators for a month. According to Elena Parfenova, if there are consistently high numbers (above 130 / 80) and jumps occur throughout the day, then even without any abnormalities, you should consult a doctor for advice.A constant overestimation of the indicator is the first signal of the onset of hypertension.

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90,000 Low blood pressure: how to live with it?

We understand how dangerous the low pressure is, and whether it is urgent to “raise” it.

What is low blood pressure, is it dangerous and how to turn it into normal – Oksana Dikur, therapist and cardiologist of the Rassvet clinic, tells the readers of Women’sHealth.

What is low blood pressure anyway?

Blood pressure is the force with which blood presses against the walls of the arteries. At the moment when the heart contracts, the pressure is the highest – it is called the upper, or systolic. In the interval between heartbeats, the pressure in the vessels drops – it is called lower, or diastolic.

Normal blood pressure ranges from 90/60 to 120/80 mm Hg. The numbers 90 and 120 are systolic, and 60 and 80 are diastolic.If the readings are less than 90/60, the pressure is considered low. This condition is called hypotension.

Is Low Pressure Dangerous?

Many – most often thin women – live with hypotension for years and feel great. Doctors believe that these people are lucky: they are less likely to suffer from cardiovascular diseases.

However, if the pressure suddenly drops below normal levels, unpleasant symptoms may appear:

• blurry vision;
• dizziness;

90,033 fainting;

• nausea or vomiting;
• drowsiness;
• feeling of weakness.

As a rule, at a young age, the health risk is not associated with the low blood pressure itself, but with the reasons due to which it falls. The exception is fainting. “This is the most alarming symptom, as it often leads to injuries and accidents,” says Oksana Dikur, therapist, cardiologist at the Rassvet Clinic . – If ​​hypotension is accompanied by loss of consciousness, it is imperative to consult a doctor. ”

But for the elderly, lowering blood pressure can be really dangerous.Moreover, a drop in diastolic pressure is more dangerous than a decrease in systolic pressure.

“This can lead to a deterioration in the blood supply to the kidneys and the brain, increase the risk of stroke and kidney failure,” explains Oksana Dikur.

What causes hypotension?

If you suddenly change the position of the body

Get up quickly or, for example, sit up abruptly in bed. This is called orthostatic hypotension. When a person takes an upright position, gravity rushes blood to the legs and abdomen, and the pressure in the vessels drops.In order to raise blood from the legs and normalize blood pressure, the autonomic nervous system increases the heart rate and constricts blood vessels.

Healthy people do not experience unpleasant sensations, because this mechanism works very quickly. But in some cases, the autonomic nervous system fails. As a result, the pressure drops, the blood does not have time to rise from the legs, the brain lacks oxygen, and symptoms of hypotension appear. This is the case, for example, in pregnant women, in people with certain medical conditions such as diabetes, and in every fifth elderly person.

Sometimes healthy people have similar sensations, for example, because of the heat, and there is nothing to worry about. But if you feel dizzy every time you change your posture, you need to see a doctor.

If you eat

After eating, the blood rushes to the gastrointestinal tract, and so that the pressure does not drop too much, the autonomic nervous system constricts the vessels and increases the heart rate. However, in about a third of older people, it cannot cope with such a load.This condition is called postprandial hypotension. If this happens, the help of a doctor is needed.

If you grow too fast

As you might guess, the problem most often occurs in children and adolescents: due to rapid growth in the work of the autonomic nervous system, a failure occurs. As a result, when you change posture or when bending over, symptoms such as dizziness and fainting appear. This is called neuro-mediated hypotension. Children usually outgrow the problem, and hypotension goes away on its own.

But sometimes neuro-mediated hypotension is a sign of serious neurological disease. In this case, the person needs the help of a doctor.

If you get sick

Blood pressure can drop in people with dehydration, in those with shock, in diabetics, in patients with arrhythmias and heart failure. In this situation, doctors seek to cure or control the disease that leads to hypotension.

If you take certain medications

Hypotension is sometimes a side effect of anti-anxiety drugs, diuretics, pain relievers, or pressure pills.In order to solve the problem, the doctor usually only needs to adjust the dose of the medication.

And if it is vegetative dystonia?

Vegetovascular dystonia is a non-existent diagnosis that people like to make on the territory of the former USSR. If a doctor is trying to write off low blood pressure on the VSD, it is worth finding another specialist who will find out why you are really unwell.

How do I turn low blood pressure into normal blood pressure?

If your blood pressure is constantly below normal, but you feel good, you do not need to do anything.If you are concerned about nausea, dizziness, or fainting, you need to see a doctor.

You won’t be able to figure it out on your own: low blood pressure can be a symptom of a wide variety of diseases, and in order to find out the true cause, you need to be tested and examined. This is very important because the method of treatment depends on the diagnosis.

But there are general recommendations that should be followed in case of hypotension:

Give up psychoactive substances

Alcohol, tobacco and smoking mixtures, which are used, for example, in hookahs, can lower blood pressure.In addition, the effect on the vessels is sometimes exerted by drugs that have been prescribed to the patient for completely different purposes. Therefore, if you are taking medications or dietary supplements, you must inform your doctor about them.

Drink enough liquid and salt

In summer, a person quickly loses water and minerals. Adequate water intake significantly reduces the risk of developing hypotension.

Avoid situations that provoke hypotension

Pressure may drop due to stuffiness, severe stress or fright, as well as if you stand for a long time, stand up suddenly, or eat very heavy meals.

At the first symptoms of hypotension, sit or lie down

Only get up if it’s better.

Wear a compression garment

This recommendation applies only to pregnant women. Your doctor will help you choose the right option.

Do simple exercises

In case of hypotension useful:

• sit cross-legged;
• to strain the muscles of the arms, clenching and unclenching fists;
• to work with a manual expander.

In general, exercise increases the return of blood to the heart and increases blood pressure. Therefore, regular aerobic exercise and light strength training reduce the likelihood of developing hypotension.

Drink coffee, strong tea or cocoa

Drinks with caffeine give a good, albeit, unfortunately, short-term effect.

Do not self-medicate

The decision on the prescription of drugs or treatment methods should be made only by a doctor after an in-person consultation.However, it should be borne in mind that the effectiveness of beta-blockers and steroid hormones, which are often used in our country to treat hypotension, is currently not proven.

90,000 Human pressure. What is considered the norm and how to measure it correctly | | Infopro54

So, blood pressure is the pressure produced by blood on the walls of our vessels. It is subdivided into arterial – in speech we most often use this type, as well as intracardiac, capillary and venous pressure.We are used to calling pressure arterial, because, unlike veins and capillaries, large vessels-arteries are located on the surface of our bodies and the pressure in them is easier to measure. The rate of contraction of the heart muscle and how much blood it can pump over a certain period of time will depend on the blood pressure.

It is important to understand that the notorious 120 to 80 norm simply does not exist!

First, blood pressure readings depend on whether you are a man or a woman, how much you weigh and how old you are.The older we are, the higher the indicators.

So, from 16 to 20 years old, good blood pressure is 100 \ 70-120 \ 80 mm Hg.

from 21 to 40 years old – 120 \ 70 – 130 \ 80 mm Hg

From 41 to 60 years old – up to 140 \ 90 mm Hg

And further – up to 150 \ 90 mm Hg.

Second, there are several things that affect BP. This is the ability of the muscle tissue of the heart to contract strongly enough to ensure the normal release of blood through the vessels. The thinner the blood, the higher the degree of its patency.Diabetes mellitus and increased coagulability can interfere with the speed capabilities of blood cells. Also, the elasticity of the walls of our vessels affects the level of pressure – they wear out and it becomes more and more difficult for them to withstand the load. Their elasticity, in turn, is influenced by atherosclerotic changes. A sharp expansion or narrowing of blood vessels may be the result of some news, perceived too emotionally, due to some kind of psychological problem, which can also cause an increase or decrease in pressure.(hypertension)

And yet, general indicators of blood pressure exist and look like this:

Normal blood pressure is considered to be the interval from 110/70 to 130/85 mm Hg.

Reduced blood pressure within normal limits – 110 \ 70-100 \ 60;

Increased blood pressure within normal limits – 130 \ 85-139 \ 89;

Hypotension (low blood pressure) – below 100 \ 60;

Hypertension (high blood pressure) – above 140/90.

Any medical examination requires certain preparations.You and I strictly follow the instructions of doctors regarding donating blood or preparing for an ultrasound examination. This procedure should be taken no less seriously – before measuring the pressure, try to erase all unpleasant thoughts from your head 30 minutes before the start, exclude heavy loads, do not eat or smoke at this time. You need to sit down so that you feel comfortable. Relax, straighten up, let your back rest on something solid, such as the back of a chair, and let your arm rest freely at a level just above your waist.Do not move and remain silent. Take readings on the right and left hands, wait 10 minutes and again measure on both hands. Use a regular blood pressure monitor and a cuff for this, this is the easiest way. You can also use an electric tonometer, it will make it easier to measure pressure for someone who does it on their own, but it should be borne in mind that such devices often break down and show incorrect results.

If, after all the calculations, you and your attending physician understand that you have hypertension, then the fact that a quarter of people on earth suffer from it and the number of patients continues to grow steadily will hardly comfort you.

It can be caused by extra pounds, insufficient activity, smoking and alcohol, stress, over-salted food, genetics and diseases of certain organs of our body. Treatment should be strictly under the supervision of the attending physician! If you ignore such symptoms of the disease as shortness of breath, pain in the heart and head, then this is fraught with a hypertensive crisis. This condition is caused by a sharp increase in blood pressure and damage to the nervous system and organs inside the body and can be life-threatening! If a patient has tremors of the extremities, chills, nausea or vomiting, darkened in his eyes, a feeling of fear appears, then he must be laid on a flat surface, his head should be raised, an influx of fresh air should be provided and an ambulance should be called.

Hypotension, fortunately, is not so dangerous, but it also causes a lot of ailments – a person with such a diagnosis constantly feels overwhelmed and tired, complains of memory loss, sweating, and drowsiness. He is worried about joint and muscle pains throughout the body. Low blood pressure can be caused by such reasons as a poorly balanced diet and a lack of vitamins, hereditary predisposition, endocrine gland disorders and a general weakening of the body.

As you can see, any disorders in the body should be reported to the attending physician and in no case should self-medicate!

90,000 Human pressure: age indicators, how to measure it correctly and the reasons for deviations from the norm

Arterial blood pressure is a purely individual indicator and depends on many factors.And, nevertheless, there is a certain average medical norm. That is why deviations from the accepted indicators allow the doctor to suspect malfunctions in the body’s systems.

However, it must be remembered that indicators can change. It depends, for example, on the time of day, as well as the age of the person. So, the pressure of a person is the norm by age, what is it, what does it depend on and why can it deviate? Portal davlenie.org tells.

What is blood pressure?

Behind this concept lies the force that the blood flow exerts on the walls of the vessels.Blood pressure indicators depend on the speed and strength of a person’s heart, as well as the total volume of blood that it is able to pass through itself within a minute.

And the recognized norm of pressure by age is one of the medical indicators of the correct functioning of the heart, the autonomic nervous system, and also the endocrine system.

Pressure rate

Foto: PantherMedia / Scanpix

Normal pressure in an adult should be determined only at rest, since any stress (both physical and emotional) has a huge impact on his performance.The human body independently controls blood pressure, and with a moderate load, its indicators rise by about 20 mm Hg. This is due to the fact that the muscles and organs involved in the work require a better blood supply.

If we talk about what blood pressure is considered normal, then at the moment the medicine recognized indicators within 91 … 139/61 … 89 mm Hg. In this case, the absolute norm is considered to be blood pressure 120/80 mm Hg, slightly increased – 130/85 mm Hg, increased normal – 139/89 mm.Hg An increase in numbers higher than 140/90 mm Hg already indicates the presence of pathology.

With age, irreversible processes occur in the human body, which provoke an increase in pressure throughout life. The older a person is, the higher his blood pressure readings.

Blood pressure: norm by age

What is normal human blood pressure? The question is somewhat abstract, since the norm for each person, most often, is individual. Educational medical literature suggests taking 120/80 mm figures as the norm.Hg It is these indicators that are recorded in people aged 20 … 40 years.

Normal blood pressure for a person aged 16 … 20 can be slightly lowered. This applies to both systolic and diastolic values. In general, the pressure at rest is 100/70 mm Hg. is a physiological norm.

Pressure standards by age (the table is presented a little below) are determined by the following indicators:

Foto: Publicitātes attēli

As the table of human pressure shows, age-related changes relate to both upper and lower blood pressure.But you need to remember that these are just average clinical indicators.

But not only an increase, but also a decrease in blood pressure indicators is a sure sign of a deterioration in the activity of body systems. That is why the ability to use a tonometer can be attributed to a good prevention of almost all diseases. And in order to track the dynamics of pressure changes, it is necessary to keep a special diary.

How to measure pressure correctly?

There is a special device for measuring blood pressure – a tonometer.At home, it is most convenient to use automatic or semi-automatic devices, since measuring with a manual tonometer requires a certain skill.

To obtain correct results, the following recommendations must be observed:

• before measuring pressure, you must completely exclude physical activity;
• No smoking;
• measuring blood pressure immediately after eating will also give incorrect results;
• measure blood pressure while sitting in a comfortable chair;
• The back must be supported;
• The hand on which the measurement is taken must be located at the level of the heart, i.e.e. pressure is measured while sitting at the table;
• when measuring pressure, you must remain motionless and not talk;
• readings are taken from both hands (measurement interval is 10 minutes).

Significant deviations from the norm require the obligatory consultation of a specialist doctor. Only a doctor, after passing all the diagnostic procedures, will be able to choose an adequate treatment for the existing problem.

Abnormality: probable causes

Foto: Shutterstock

There are many reasons that can provoke changes in blood pressure.But the most common are the following:

• Inability of the heart to work in the same mode and with the required strength.
• Change in blood quality. With age, it becomes thicker. And the thicker the blood, the more difficult it is for it to flow through the vessels. The cause of thickening can be, for example, such complex diseases as diabetes mellitus or autoimmune pathologies.
• Decreased vascular elasticity. This is caused by an incorrect nutritional system, increased loads, and certain medications.
• Formation of atherosclerotic plaques that form when the level of “bad” cholesterol in the blood is increased.
• A sharp change in the lumen of the vessel caused by hormones.
• Incorrect work of the endocrine glands.

Most of the causes of pressure surges can be eliminated by yourself, which will allow you to maintain health as long as possible. Correctly selected diet, leading an active lifestyle, a calm attitude to life, which allows you to avoid stressful situations.Compliance with these simple rules allows you to normalize blood pressure.

Pulse, as an indicator of health

The next indicator of health, along with the numbers of blood pressure, is the pulse. A pulse in the range of 60… 80 beats / min is considered normal. The more intensive the metabolism takes place, the higher the number of beats per minute.

As well as for blood pressure indicators, there are averaged norms for different age categories.

Foto: Publicitātes attēli

By measuring your heart rate, you can learn to recognize an impending problem.For example, if the number of heart beats increases 2-3 hours after a meal, then poisoning can be suspected.

A magnetic storm in people who are acutely reacting to a sharp change in weather causes a decrease in blood pressure. The body reacts to this by increasing the heart rate in order to maintain the optimal blood pressure level.

An intense pulse, the beats of which a person feels very clearly, indicates a sharp increase in blood pressure.

Arterial hypertension in questions and answers

Question: How often do people get hypertension?
Answer: According to statistics in different countries, the prevalence of hypertension is 30-40% of the adult population.In the Russian Federation, this indicator is approaching 50%, i.e. hypertension in every second, which can be regarded as an epidemic!

Question: How is arterial hypertension manifested?
Answer: High blood pressure flows secretly and usually does not manifest itself in anything. A person for a long time does not consider symptoms such as heaviness in the back of the head, intermittent headaches, dizziness, nosebleeds, fatigue, weakness, poor sleep as signs of the disease.According to statistics, 2/3 of people live with blood pressure for years and are unaware of its presence! Be aware that once it appears, arterial hypertension does not disappear. If you do not pay attention to pressure rises above the norm, then this will lead to a gradual consolidation of pressure at higher numbers and the early development of complications.

Question: What are the most frequent and significant complications of arterial hypertension?
Answer: If you do not normalize blood pressure, then the risk of developing other diseases, especially cardiovascular diseases, increases sharply.Blood pressure damages the arteries, causing them to thicken compensatory and decrease in elasticity. All internal organs begin to suffer from a drop in blood flow. The most sensitive organs or target organs of hypertension are the heart, brain, kidneys, eyes.
Only timely treatment of arterial hypertension protects internal organs from complications. People with high blood pressure are 7 times more likely to have a stroke, 4 times more myocardial infarction and angina pectoris, 2 times more vascular lesions.It is unforgivable late, when a person first learns about the presence of arterial hypertension only with the “sudden” appearance of a heart attack, stroke, blindness or thrombosis of the vessels of the extremities.

Question: What is blood pressure?
Answer: Blood pressure is the force with which the blood presses on the walls of the arteries, it is characterized by 2 numbers: systolic pressure (maximum, “upper”), which occurs at the moment of ejection of blood from the ventricles of the heart, and diastolic (minimum, ” lower “) – blood pressure in the arteries when the heart muscle is completely relaxed and the blood freely fills the atria and ventricles.

Question: Where does arterial hypertension come from?
Answer: Arterial hypertension accompanies a whole group of diseases, including some heart defects, endocrine disorders, kidney pathology, which accounts for about 10% of all cases of hypertension and this is secondary hypertension. In most cases, the cause of hypertension remains unknown, then the disease is called essential hypertension. Currently, the prevailing theory of hereditary predisposition, genetic disorders of blood pressure regulation, transmitted from relatives.A frequent impetus to the early development of arterial hypertension and complications from it are the so-called risk factors: smoking, sedentary lifestyle, overweight, frequent and excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, salty food, psycho-emotional stress, unhealthy diet, diabetes mellitus.

Question: How to identify arterial hypertension?
Answer: You can have high blood pressure and feel good at the same time.Therefore, the disease can only be detected by repeatedly measuring the pressure with a special device – a tonometer.
At home, you can use semi-automatic or automatic devices, but periodically compare their readings with the values ​​of a hand-held tonometer. Make it a rule to measure your blood pressure more often, especially if you have the risk factors listed in the previous answer. If your blood pressure does not drop to target values ​​even after 20-30 minutes of rest, then you need to achieve this urgently with the help of medication, after consulting your doctor in advance.Therefore, it is so important to come to the doctor’s appointments prophylactically to identify and timely effective correction of risk factors for arterial hypertension.

Question: What blood pressure is considered normal and what should be the target blood pressure indicators?
Answer: These data are regularly displayed in the guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of arterial hypertension of the Russian Society of Cardiology and the Russian Medical Society for Arterial Hypertension.The parameters currently recommended in the Russian Federation are shown in the table:

Question: How to practically organize blood pressure control?
Answer: Recommendations of cardiologists: keep an individual “Diary of blood pressure control”, fill it out regularly, show the diary at the doctor’s appointment and adjust the treatment of hypertension in accordance with medical prescriptions.Everything is extremely simple, filling out the diary will take about 10-30 minutes a day, but it disciplines the patient, like in school, to fully implement the recommendations and adds minutes at the doctor’s office to get answers to your other questions. And the assessment for your correct actions will be given by life itself! These are additional years of active life and without the complications of hypertension.

Sample “Blood Pressure Diary”

Question: What is taught in medical institutions in the “Schools of Health for Patients with Arterial Hypertension”?
Answer: Health schools for patients with chronic diseases, including those with arterial hypertension, have been working in hospitals for about 15 years.As in any school, classes are reduced to three processes: informing, learning, strengthening practical skills. The quality of knowledge and the success of their subsequent practical application develops depending on the personality of the teacher and the personality of the student. Patients with arterial hypertension and risk factors receive maximum information about their disease in an accessible form, about methods of controlling hypertension, ways to correct risk factors, find the best options for living with their disease in real life.

Question: What are the most important recommendations for a patient with arterial hypertension?
Answer: These recommendations are simple and straightforward. “Disruptions” occur when they are performed in real life, so diverse in its manifestations.
1. Move more, walk in the fresh air 3-5 times a week for 30-40 minutes in the zone of safe heart rate and blood pressure, or choose other types of physical activity: dancing, swimming, cycling, tennis, etc.Consult your doctor to determine the degree of physical activity in each case.
2. Normalize your weight, this will reduce unnecessary stress on the heart and blood vessels.
3. Stop smoking once and for all.
4. Limit the consumption of alcoholic beverages.
5. Increase your intake of fresh plant foods.
6. Strive for a balanced diet low in salt and fat.
7. Try not to get “turned on” by unforeseen circumstances.Build your stress tolerance.
8. Monitor your blood pressure and pulse regularly.
9. Remember to take your prescribed medications, even if you are feeling well. Remember that the treatment of arterial hypertension is always individualized and lasts as long as the hypertension itself lasts!

Question: What is the critical situation in arterial hypertension?
Answer: A critical situation is a hypertensive crisis.A hypertensive crisis is a sharp, persistent increase in blood pressure for several hours and lasting for several days. A patient with a crisis may experience intense headache, dizziness, nausea, pain in the heart, increased shortness of breath, weakness, palpitations, anxiety.

Question: What is the emergency first aid for hypertensive crisis?
Answer: The main thing is to act quickly, clearly and without panic.Better to use the proven step-by-step scheme recommended by the Russian Society of Cardiology:
1. The patient should stop physical activity, sit down or lie down with his head elevated.
2. Measure blood pressure and pulse every 15-20 minutes. With blood pressure above 200/100 mm Hg. and feeling unwell, urgently call an ambulance.
3. Take medications for emergency blood pressure lowering:
– captopril 25-50 mg (1-2 tablets) under the tongue
or
– nifedipine 10-20 mg (1-2 tablets) under the tongue.
4. If the pulse rate is over 90 beats per minute, additionally take 25-50 mg of metoprolol.
5. With increased excitement in the patient, you can give sedatives: 30 drops of tincture of valerian or motherwort (dissolve in 50-100 ml of water).
6. In case of an attack of pressing or squeezing pains behind the sternum against a background of high blood pressure, take nitroglycerin under the tongue in the form of 1 tablet or inject 1 dose of spray, additionally take 1 tablet of aspirin (chew, note the time of admission).If there is a risk of bleeding, do not take aspirin!
7. After 30-60 minutes, if the blood pressure remains above 180/100 mm Hg, you must repeat the administration of captopril or nifedipine.

Question: What actions to take if a stroke is suspected?
Answer: A stroke can be suspected when the following symptoms appear:
Sudden weakness or loss of sensation in the face, arm, or leg, especially if it is on one side of the body;
– sudden visual impairment;
– Difficulty in pronunciation and understanding of speech;
– dizziness, loss of balance or coordination;
– sudden, intense headache.
If even one of the listed symptoms appears, immediately call an ambulance, do not miss the “golden hour” when treatment can still return the patient to a full life!

Question: Can you briefly summarize all preventive measures for arterial hypertension?
Answer: 1. Training.
2. A healthy and balanced diet.
3. Exercise.
4. Abandonment of bad habits.
5. Blood pressure control.
6. Regular full implementation of the recommendations of the attending physician with timely correction of treatment.

We invite all those who are not indifferent to their health
to the classes of Health Schools in various cardiological areas
in BUZ UR “RKDC MZ UR”.
Phone for inquiries: 68–37–86

Europe tightened normal blood pressure values ​​

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Society for the Treatment of Hypertension (ESH) have updated guidelines for the treatment of hypertension.The authors of the recommendations presented them at the annual international conference ESC in Munich, which brings together all the leading cardiologists in Europe. The full version of the new guidelines is published in the European Heart Journal.

Recommendations concern not only the peculiarities of the treatment of hypertension in patients of different ages, but also in cases where hypertension is combined with other serious pathologies (in particular, cancer). European cardiologists give clear instructions on lifestyle, physical activity, proper nutrition, alcohol consumption and smoking for such patients – all this should be explained to a particular patient by his attending doctor.

The main change that was included in the new recommendations (until now, cardiologists were guided by a document released in 2013) is the tightening of requirements for the limit values ​​of blood pressure, which is considered the norm.