What Causes It and When It’s Dangerous

Low Blood Pressure: What Causes It and When It’s Dangerous

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This article was medically reviewed by John Osborne, MD, PhD, and the Director of Cardiology for Dallas-based State of the Heart Cardiology.

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Our stories are reviewed by medical professionals to ensure you get the most accurate and useful information about your health and wellness. For more information, visit our medical review board.

Common causes of low blood pressure include pregnancy, medication side effects, and dehydration.

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• Low blood pressure is defined by a blood pressure reading of 90/60 mm Hg or lower.
• Low blood pressure with no symptoms is rarely a cause for concern. 
• If you also experience dizziness, shortness of breath, or fainting, seek medical attention. 

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.

What causes low blood pressure

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. 

Insider’s takeaway

Low blood pressure, or hypotension, is often not a cause for concern. However, if it accompanies symptoms like fainting, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, or dizziness, you may need medical attention.

Some common causes of low blood pressure include pregnancy, hormonal changes, dehydration, and medication side effects. 

Low blood pressure alone is not considered fatal, but there are some conditions where it’s an emergency. Low blood pressure caused by Sepsis or Addison’s disease calls for immediate medical treatment. 

Erin Heger

Erin Heger is a freelance journalist located in the Kansas City area. She primarily covers stories related to healthcare policy, maternal mental health, parenting, and personal finance. Her work been featured in The Atlantic, Rewire.News, Refinery29, HuffPost, and more. 

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Low Blood Pressure | Hypotension

Also called: Hypotension, LBP

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You’ve probably heard that high blood pressure is a problem. Sometimes blood pressure that is too low can also cause problems.

Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Each time your heart beats, it pumps out blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is highest when your heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic pressure. When your heart is at rest, between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is the diastolic pressure. Your blood pressure reading uses these two numbers. Usually they’re written one above or before the other, such as 120/80. If your blood pressure reading is 90/60 or lower, you have low blood pressure.

Some people have low blood pressure all the time. They have no symptoms and their low readings are normal for them. In other people, blood pressure drops below normal because of a medical condition or certain medicines. Some people may have symptoms of low blood pressure when standing up too quickly. Low blood pressure is a problem only if it causes dizziness, fainting or in extreme cases, shock.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

• Low Blood Pressure (Hypotension)

  (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)

  Also in Spanish

• Low Blood Pressure (Hypotension)

  (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

• Arterial Catheterization

  (American Thoracic Society)

  – PDF

• Measuring Blood Pressure

  (National Library of Medicine)

  Also in Spanish

• Tilt Table Test

  (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)

  Also in Spanish

• Conditions Related to Parkinson’s

  (Parkinson’s Foundation)

• Syncope (Fainting)

  (American Heart Association)

• Multiple System Atrophy (MSA)

  (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)

  Also in Spanish

• Orthostatic Hypotension

  (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

• Orthostatic Hypotension (Postural Hypotension)

  (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)

  Also in Spanish

• ClinicalTrials. gov: Hypotension

  (National Institutes of Health)

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Hypotension, Orthostatic

  (National Institutes of Health)

• Article: Efficacy of Isoflurane-Remifentanil versus Propofol-Remifentanil on Controlled Hypotension and Surgeon Satisfaction. ..

• Article: Impact of frequent intradialytic hypotension on quality of life in patients…

• Article: Third-trimester persistent maternal hypotension effects on late-onset small for gestational age. ..

• Low Blood Pressure — see more articles

• American Heart Association

• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

  Also in Spanish

• Fainting (Syncope)

  (AGS Health in Aging Foundation)

• Postprandial Hypotension

  (Merck & Co. , Inc.)

  Also in Spanish

Hypertension: degrees, symptoms and causes of high blood pressure

However, if it so happens that you are interested in the topic of health and hypertension in particular, then this publication may be useful to you, from it you will learn:

• What is high blood pressure?
• How can it harm your health?
• How do you know if you have hypertension?
• How do you self-assess your risk of complications?
• What to do next? How can a doctor help you? What can you do yourself?

First of all, this information will be of interest:

• Those who already have high blood pressure
• Those whose loved ones suffer from high blood pressure
• Those who want to know in advance how to take care of their health now in order to prevent disease in the future.

What is blood pressure?

Arterial pressure (BP) is the force with which blood presses against the walls of blood vessels from the inside. BP is systolic and diastolic. Systolic is the pressure of blood in the arteries during the contraction of the heart. This is “upper pressure”. Diastolic is the pressure of blood in the arteries when the heart relaxes. This is the “down” pressure. If you connect the pump to an inflated bicycle chamber and imagine that the pump is the heart, and the chamber is the vessels, then the pressure in the chamber, which will be at the moment the pump pumps air, will be systolic. And diastolic pressure is the pressure with which air presses on the walls of the chamber (blood presses on the walls of the vessels) while the pump is not operating. The level of diastolic pressure will depend on the elasticity of the chamber walls.

Normally, there is a certain corridor, and if the indicators do not go beyond it, we consider that the person’s pressure is normal. The boundaries of this corridor: not higher than 140/90 and not lower than 90/60. High blood pressure is more dangerous than low blood pressure. And if there are serious concomitant diseases, for example, diabetes, then the upper limit of the corridor goes down – 130/80 pressure should be lower than 140/90. Hypertension is a chronic disease in which there are periodic or persistent rises in blood pressure above 140/90. At the same time, this does not mean that every person who has ever had high blood pressure has hypertension. Short-term and slight fluctuations in blood pressure can be observed in different situations. For example, an increase in blood pressure is noted in the morning after waking up, with excitement, stress, physical activity, and smoking.

A short-term decrease in blood pressure is observed at rest, during sleep. Our body is threatened by a prolonged increase in blood pressure. Many factors influence the level of blood pressure. It depends on the volume of blood pushed out by the heart into the vessels, on the frequency and strength of the contractions of the heart and the elasticity of the vessels. If you draw analogies with a regular water hose for water, then you can increase the pressure in it by pinching a certain section of the hose. But you can also increase the pressure by opening the faucet harder and increasing the flow of water.

Arterial hypertension is a widespread disease, it occurs in 40% of the population. It is dangerous because it increases the load on the heart and causes vascular stiffness. Over time, high pressure injures the vascular wall, causing damage to blood vessels, cholesterol begins to be deposited in the vessel wall, which leads to rapid aging of blood vessels, their narrowing. Vessels lose their elasticity, become fragile and brittle. This increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, the 1st and 3rd leading causes of death. Also, the thickening of the walls of blood vessels causes a slowdown or cessation of the flow of oxygen-rich blood, resulting in damage to vital organs. As a result of these changes, complications of hypertension develop, which are dangerous.

Complications are acute, associated with a sharp jump in pressure: for example, a hypertensive crisis, stroke, heart attack, aortic rupture. Chronic complications develop gradually against the background of a long course of hypertension for decades, they arise as a result of atherosclerosis damage to small vessels that feed vital organs, as a result, these organs are chronically deprived of blood supply, rich in oxygen and nutrients, and eventually begin to function worse.

These organs are called target organs:

• The first sign of kidney damage is the appearance of protein in the urine, then kidney function worsens
• Visual impairment
• The walls of the heart thicken, its relaxation and filling with blood becomes more difficult, angina pectoris appears, the pumping function of the heart worsens, heart failure develops
• Damage to the walls of the aorta
• The work of the brain is disturbed, which is manifested by a decrease in memory, quick wits, and attention.

In 95% of cases, the specific cause of the increase in pressure cannot be established – this is the result of the influence of a complex of factors – in this case, hypertension is an independent disease – and is called Hypertension. In 5% of cases, the cause can be identified and (often, but not always) eliminated – in this case, hypertension is a symptom of another disease.

The main organ involved in the regulation of pressure is the kidney. Problems with the vessels of the kidneys, the kidneys themselves or the adrenal glands are the bulk of symptomatic hypertension. Also, symptomatic hypertension can be caused by changes in the thyroid gland, congenital and acquired anomalies of blood vessels and the heart.

If you are over fifty and have just woken up and nothing hurts, then you have already died. So say the English scientists. We disagree with colleagues. This is what hypertension looks like. Most often, high blood pressure goes unnoticed, without showing itself. You can find out about it by chance at a physical examination. Therefore, it is important to undergo medical examination in a timely manner.

The insidiousness of hypertension lies in the fact that most people, even with very high blood pressure numbers of 180/100 and above, do not develop any symptoms.

The same people who feel increased pressure are concerned:

• Throbbing headaches in the back of the head, heaviness in the head
• Dizziness
• Flashing “flies” before the eyes
• Irritability, fatigue, depressed mood
• Sleep disorders (insomnia, frequent waking up)
• Visual impairments
• Pain in the region of the heart
• First, episodic increases in blood pressure, then a persistent increase.

Uncontrolled hypertension can lead to complications

Let’s take a closer look at the acute complications of hypertension first – these are emergency situations when you must immediately call an ambulance. If there is no way to call an ambulance, ask someone to take you to the hospital.

One of these situations is a Hypertensive crisis – this is a sharp, sudden jump in pressure, accompanied by a deterioration in well-being. Sometimes the state of health can be normal. However, a hypertensive crisis always requires urgent intervention. Provoking factors for a pressure surge can be:

• Neuropsychic and physical stress
• Change of weather
• Heavy smoking
• Abrupt withdrawal of blood pressure lowering drugs, taking short-acting drugs
• Drinking alcohol
• Large meals, especially salty, and at night
• Foods and drinks containing substances that increase blood pressure: coffee – caffeine, chocolate, cheese, caviar – tyramine.

It is very important to know what you can do yourself with high blood pressure before the doctor arrives

• First of all, you need to measure blood pressure
• Before the doctor arrives, try to lower your blood pressure yourself: to do this, take: Kapoten 25 mg – 1-2 tabs under the tongue or Corinfar 10 mg – 1 tab inside.
• For pain in the heart – nitrospray – 1 injection under the tongue
• You can not reduce blood pressure sharply, especially in the elderly and with a stroke, otherwise there may be cerebral ischemia (reduce by 20-25% in 2 hours).
• Call an ambulance doctor.

Against the background of high pressure, it is important to pay attention to the manifestations characteristic of a stroke or a temporary violation of cerebral circulation.

For this you need:

• Ask the person to smile. He can’t do it with both corners of his mouth. The smile will be crooked.
• Ask for a simple sentence, such as “the weather is fine today.” He will not be able to say clearly, “the tongue is tangled.”
• Ask to raise both hands at the same time. He will not be able or will be able only partially
• Ask to stick out the tongue – if it is twisted, turned – then this is a sign of a stroke.
• Visual impairment in one or both eyes, dark spots
• Disorders of gait, coordination, balance, dizziness
• Severe headache without cause

If you find these symptoms, you should immediately consult a cardiologist.

Irreversible changes can be prevented by calling an ambulance in the first 4.5 hours after the onset of these symptoms.

Now a few words about the chronic complications of hypertension. As we said earlier, with a long course of hypertension, small arteries are primarily affected, causing disruption of the work of various organs: the heart, kidneys, eyes, brain, blood vessels. Therefore, these organs are called targets of hypertension. The vulnerability of these organs in different people is different – in someone the heart is first affected, in someone the kidneys, in someone the brain. The presence of hypertension cannot be known without measuring the pressure.

The only way to determine your blood pressure is to measure it at least occasionally. And come to the annual medical examinations to the therapist. To measure pressure at home, there is a special device – a tonometer. Pressure should begin to be measured after 30 years. Today in pharmacies you can find a wide variety of blood pressure monitors from various manufacturers. The main difference between tonometers is in the method of measuring pressure. There are manual mechanical blood pressure monitors, semi-automatic and fully automatic blood pressure monitors.

The main disadvantage of mechanical tonometers and at the same time the advantage of automatic tonometers is that mechanical tonometers do not allow you to measure the pressure yourself, especially when you feel unwell, since to determine the pressure you need to listen to your heart sounds with a stethoscope, so you need another person who will measure your pressure , while automatic blood pressure monitors require only putting on a cuff and pressing a button. Also, mechanical blood pressure monitors work without batteries, while automatic ones can work both from batteries and from the mains. There is a battery charge indicator on the display of the tonometer, which will allow you to avoid situations when a discharged battery will take you by surprise, just when you urgently need to measure pressure.

Most blood pressure monitors have a cuff that is worn on the shoulder or on the wrist. There are also sports fitness bracelets without a cuff that can measure pressure and pulse, as well as body temperature, blood oxygen saturation, pulse regularity, sleep duration. The most convenient and accurate are blood pressure monitors with a cuff on the shoulder.

Since different people have different arm diameters, cuffs come in different sizes depending on the diameter of the arm circumference. As a rule, a standard cuff (22-32 cm) or a universal cuff (22-42 cm) is included with the tonometer. If the cuff does not fit, then you can additionally purchase a cuff suitable for your tonometer model. They come in the following sizes: 1. Pediatric cuff: 15-22 cm (S) 2. Medium cuff: 22-32 cm (M) 3. Large cuff: 32-42 cm (L) 4. Extra large: 32-52 cm (L-XL) Cuffs are soft and rigid. Here you can focus on your preferences. As a rule, a rigid cuff provides a more comfortable measurement process. However, we recommend that you try the cuff on your arm before buying in order to choose the most suitable one. Rigid cuff Soft cuff Also, to ensure the accuracy of the result and reliability of use, we recommend using blood pressure monitors from well-known manufacturers, such as: Beurer, AND, Microlife, Omron, Littledoctor, CITIZEN, Sanitas, Medisana, Nissei, Panasonic.

Tonometers of different manufacturers and brands are equipped with various other functions that facilitate the process of measuring pressure and make it more convenient, for example, display backlight, sound signals, voice guidance, saving the results of previous measurements in memory, the ability to use one tonometer for two people, while the results of their measurements are saved individually. Here you can focus solely on your preferences. All tonometers show the measurement result as two numbers: systolic pressure (upper) and diastolic pressure (lower). BP is measured in mmHg. The tonometer also shows the pulse rate and the presence of arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats).

In order to obtain accurate results using a tonometer, certain rules must be followed.

Rules for measuring pressure

It is necessary to measure the pressure while sitting, in a calm state for at least 5 minutes. Not earlier than 30 minutes after physical, emotional stress, food, cigarettes or coffee. If there is more pressure on one of the two hands, then for all subsequent measurements we select it. If a person is overweight and the circumference of his shoulder is more than 46 cm, then it is necessary to use a cuff with a width of 14 cm, otherwise the data will be overestimated.

1. Sitting with support on the back of a chair, relax your legs. The arm is relaxed and rests on a flat horizontal surface, not on weight
2. The hand is at the level of the heart
3. The arm is stationary during the measurement
4. Cuff 2.5 fingers above the elbow
5. Do not cuff clothing, do not roll up sleeves to form a roll of fabric
6. Repeated measurement on the same arm is possible after 1-2 minutes.
7. Measurement of blood pressure – in the morning after waking up and in the evening before bedtime.

Further, the obtained measurement results are used to diagnose the presence of arterial hypertension, as well as to assess the risk of developing vascular complications, such as strokes and heart attacks, in the next 10 years specifically in your situation. This is called prognosis. This prognosis is influenced by your medical history, blood pressure levels, and test results. The examination is prescribed by a cardiologist or therapist to determine the state of your target organs at the moment. The examination allows you to get a holistic view of your health and understand which target organs will be vulnerable in the first place.

The minimum examination looks like this:

• Monitoring of blood pressure and ECG per day. False-positive results occur in white-coat hypertension. When you see a doctor, your subconscious mind remembers how, as a child, a person dressed like this gave you a very painful injection in the ass, as you thought, completely unfair. This is stressful for you and the pressure naturally rises. “Hypertension,” the doctor tells you. You come home, your wife measures your blood pressure – it is completely normal. In our case, the output is the daily monitoring of blood pressure. When a special wearable device measures the pressure every 20-40 minutes during the day. This is the “gold standard” for diagnosing hypertension
• ECG,
• ultrasound of the heart;
• Ultrasound of the kidneys;
• urinalysis;
• Doppler ultrasound of neck vessels;
• Blood tests: cholesterol, sugar, clinical blood count;
• Ophthalmic examination – assessment of the fundus vessels.

Knowing the test results, you and your doctor can assess your risk of vascular complications by answering questions. At the same time, if you have at least 1 item from the left column, then the risk of complications is already high and you need to immediately start drug treatment

Check if you moved:

• Stroke;
• Heart attack;

Please list your risk factors:

• Age >55 for men and >65 for women
• Smoking
• Elevated cholesterol (>6. 5 mmol/l)
• Cardiovascular diseases in relatives
• Obesity
• Lack of physical activity
• Excessive alcohol consumption

Please note if you have:

• Angina pectoris
• Diabetes mellitus
• Vascular disease of the legs (“intermittent claudication”)
• Aortic aneurysm
• Renal dysfunction

Ask your cardiologist if you have:

• Left ventricular hypertrophy
• Fundus changes
• Protein in urine and/or increased blood creatinine
• Systolic BP >180/110 Each yes answer to the questions in this table corresponds to one risk factor.

The total number of yes answers tells you how many risk factors you have in total.

Then, compare the number of risk factors you have with your blood pressure levels and use the table below to estimate your risk of developing vascular complications over the next 10 years.

• Low risk <15%,
• Average risk 15-20%,
• High risk 20-30%,
• Very high risk >30%

Now you know your risk of vascular complications. What to do next?

The choice of further medical tactics for arterial hypertension depends on your level of risk. Each level of risk has its own tactics.

Low Risk: No immediate treatment needed, monitor blood pressure regularly for 6-12 mo. If after 12 months BP>150/95 – then you need to start drug therapy.

At Moderate risk: Regularly measure blood pressure for 3-6 months, non-drug correction of risk factors for 3-6 months. If, after 6 months, blood pressure > 140/90, then it is necessary to start drug therapy.

If you are at high risk: Immediate medical treatment. You need to see a doctor. To reduce the risk of vascular complications – heart attack and stroke, it is necessary to normalize blood pressure.

To do this, you need to understand what underlies high blood pressure. Pressure is based on both genetics and environmental influences. Therefore, all risk factors for the development of hypertension are divided into 2 large groups – these are:

• Immutable factors. We cannot influence these factors, since they are determined by genes and are innate. These include: gender, age, heredity (the presence of cardiovascular diseases in close relatives at a young age up to 40 years). But in itself, a hereditary predisposition to arterial hypertension does not mean that a person will definitely get sick.

But when other negative factors join heredity:

• Changeable factors. Most of them are our life habits. We can change them. These include: smoking, nutrition, obesity, excessive salt intake, inactivity, stress, nervous tension, cholesterol levels, alcohol abuse, coffee, blood pressure levels. One of these factors is the general abuse of salt, and specifically, sodium, which is part of it. Few people know that even without salting food on purpose, we nevertheless consume sodium three times more than the amount that we need. Sodium is found not only in table salt, but also in the mass of food additives in food products, such as preservatives, dyes, stabilizers, sweeteners, additives to improve the taste and color of foods, flavorings (for example, monosodium glutamate, sodium nitrite, sodium benzoate , sodium citrate, sodium cyclamate and others). Excess intake of sodium in the body is one of the most powerful risk factors for arterial hypertension. We will talk about this separately.

As for stress… Undoubtedly, stress often works like a detonator, it starts the process of arterial hypertension. But if a person who quarrels with his superiors, drives through city traffic jams, overcomes snowdrifts and puddles, etc., is provided with ideal living conditions, then arterial hypertension will not disappear from him.

The treatment of arterial hypertension is always a partnership between a doctor and a patient.

We would like you to have an understanding of what is in your power to do for yourself and how important it is to understand the purpose for which the doctor gives certain recommendations. This gives you the opportunity to prevent or slow down the course of the disease and reduce the risk of its complications.

Hypertension treatment includes both non-drug treatments and medications.

Non-drug methods relate to changing habits and lifestyle and are recommended for all patients, regardless of pressure numbers and risk levels. Non-drug treatments for high blood pressure include:

• Power Features
• Dietary sodium reduction
• Maintaining the intake of potassium, calcium, magnesium in the body
• Reduced dietary intake of saturated fats, cholesterol, increased vegetables and fruits
• Increased physical activity
• Restriction of alcohol consumption, coffee
• Smoking cessation
• Weight loss in obesity
• Normalization of the regime of work and rest We will discuss all these factors separately later.

Medical methods include taking drugs from different groups, which can be combined with each other, and combined with non-drug methods of treatment.

How to increase blood pressure: 5 quick ways that will definitely help

Likbez

Health

August 11, 2022

And 6 more, thanks to which you will forget about problems with pressure forever.

You can listen to the short version of the article. If it’s more convenient for you, turn on the podcast.

Low blood pressure is a nasty thing, but it’s usually safe. However, hypotension attacks should never be ignored.

What is low pressure and why is it dangerous

Remember the borderline – 90/60. As long as the tonometer shows you these or higher values, everything is in order. But as soon as any of the numbers decreases – even the first, even the second – we can talk about low pressure.

There is an important nuance here. If everything is clear with high blood pressure: it is categorically dangerous for everyone, then low blood pressure may just be your feature. As long as it does not spoil life with ailments, it is not considered a violation, it does not need to be fought.

Another thing is if the following symptoms appear:

• weakness;
• dizziness, to the point where it seems that you are about to lose consciousness;
• blurred vision;
• nausea;
• chills;
• sweating;
• decrease in concentration.

This complex seriously spoils life, interferes with work and communication. But most importantly, low blood pressure, if accompanied by unpleasant symptoms, is actually just a symptom.

The causes of low blood pressure can range from simple dehydration and stress to hormonal imbalances, internal bleeding and myocardial infarction.

It is important to find out what exactly causes hypotension and start treatment. When the underlying disease is defeated, the pressure normalizes by itself.

When to call an ambulance

As soon as you or a loved one notice not only a very low blood pressure, but also

• cold, clammy and pale skin;
• rapid shallow breathing;
• weak and rapid pulse;
• confusion.

These are signs of the so-called acute arterial hypotension (collapse, shock). This condition is life-threatening. It can lead to hypoxia of the brain and internal organs. Therefore, it is impossible to delay seeking medical help.

How to quickly increase blood pressure at home

As a reminder: if low blood pressure has unpleasant symptoms, go to a therapist. Otherwise, you risk missing a possible hidden and much more global problem. But while you have not reached the doctor or the specialist has not yet established the causes of the ailment, you can use simple home methods to increase blood pressure. Choose the most comfortable for you or combine them.

1. Eat something salty

A piece of herring, pickled cucumber, a couple of slices of cheese or other pickled cheese, a spoonful of rice generously seasoned with soy sauce …

Sodium chloride (the same table salt) increases blood pressure. Sometimes abruptly, so salt is categorically contraindicated for people suffering from hypertension.

Attention! You can not constantly increase the pressure salty. Too much sodium can lead to heart failure, especially in older people.

2. Drink a glass of water

Or two, if you can. The liquid will increase the volume of blood (as a result, its pressure on the walls of blood vessels), and also eliminate possible dehydration.

3. Wear compression socks or stockings

Elastic stockings are commonly used to reduce swelling and pain in varicose veins. But in addition, they reduce the volume of blood in the legs. The expelled blood will increase the pressure in the main vessels of the body. Just wear your stockings correctly.

4. Get in the right posture

This is an alternative to compression stockings.

If sitting, cross your legs. So you reduce the volume of blood in the lower extremities and increase the pressure in the main vessels. By the way, therefore, for people suffering from hypertension, this position is contraindicated.

If you are standing, you can cross your hips like scissors and squeeze them hard. The effect will be about the same.

Alternatively, place one foot on a chair or bench in front of you and lean forward as far as you can with your whole body.

5. Drink some coffee

This is one of the most popular methods, but not the fact that it is effective. Caffeine can actually increase blood pressure in people who rarely drink coffee. But if you are a coffee lover, the desired effect will not necessarily come.

How to permanently raise your blood pressure without medication

Again: with the help of a doctor who will determine the causes of your condition and prescribe a treatment regimen. To alleviate the symptoms, the doctor will prescribe drugs that return low blood pressure to normal.

However, you can help your body by changing your lifestyle a little. Here’s what doctors advise you to do if you have hypotension:

1. Drink plenty of water, especially if it’s hot or you have a fever.
2. Limit your alcohol intake. Avoid alcohol altogether if possible.
3. Exercise regularly or at least walk more: exercise improves vascular tone.
4. Try not to stand in one place for a long time.