Blood Pressure is the degree of pressure exerted by the arteries and the heart to keep the blood circulating in the blood vessels throughout the body. It is measured in two levels.
The systolic level, which is the maximum level, records the force exerted in the arteries with each heartbeat to propel the blood out of the left ventricle of the heart into the aorta or large artery.
The diastolic pressure, or minimum level, records the phase of the heart between beats - during relaxation. This pressure indicates the condition of the arterioles or small blood vessels' ability to contract and keep the flow of blood constant throughout the body. Since each heart beat forces into the large artery an amount of blood equal to that which escapes from the aterioles into the capillaries, the pressure is maintained at a constant level.
High Blood Pressure is the state in which blood pressure is beyond the normal limits. one cause of hypertension is the constriction, or narrowing, of the smallest branches of the arteries throughout the body. This constriction slows the flow of blood through the tiny vessels, causing the heart to pump harder in order to keep the blood circulating throughout the body.
Systolic hypertension is that which allows any increase in systolic pressure. This may be due to a variety of causes, a simple case being extreme anxiety. In this case, a few hours of rest will bring the blood pressure down to normal.
Diastolic hypertension, or true hypertension, due to a narrowing of aterioles and is usually hereditary. Hypertension is usually found in persons past forty as a rule, though many persons who first discover a mild hypertension at 40 to 50 years old may have had an elevated blood pressure for many years previously. The disease occurs more often in women, but more seriously in men. It is prevalent in persons between 60 and 70 years old. These cases usually follow a mild, uneventful pattern. Also, patients with diabetes mellitus more frequently have hypertension.
Obesity constitutes a serious factor in hypertension. Obesity increases the amount of work the heart must perform. In fact, a loss of weight is often accompanied by a fall in blood pressure.
People who are high strung, react tensely to everyday problems, and are apt to suppress fears, hostilities and aggressions, frequently have hypertension.
These inner conflicts establish a nervous reaction which may become localized in the tiny blood vessels and cause high blood pressure eventually. JUST as some stomach ulcers are caused by tensions of the stomach.
High blood pressure is not always hereditary; the tendency to the disease is stronger in some families than in others. Frequently, the condition will be found in more than one member of the family.
With high blood pressure, the definite cause is known only in a small percentage of the cases and these are generally attributed to kidney disease. In only 20 percent of all cases involving hypertensive disease, are the specific causes known. A mild or benign condition is a slowly progressive ailment.
other than a moderate elevation of blood level., benign hypertension may exist for years without any suggestion of its presence. A person over 40 may see a doctor because of dizziness, failing vision, headaches, or noises in the head, expecting to be told that the discomfort is due to high blood pressure.
Actually the blood elevation may not be great and can vary from one visit to the next. The complaints are due to the complications associated with hypertension itself. When the complications do appear, they most frequently affect organs such as the eyes, brain, heart, and kidneys.
When the coronary arteries, which feed the heart, become narrowed, a temporary pain upon exertion may be experienced. Subjection to a more serious attack, coronary thrombosis, is accompanied by some manifestations Of shock such as shortness of breath. Enlargement of the heart, which may also be caused by hypertension, results from the exertion of the heart muscles pumping against the resistance of the arterioles. This will eventually cause heart pain and shortness of breath.
When the arteries in the brain become hardened, personality changes appear, with failure to concentrate, emotional instability, and forgetfulness especially of recent events). This is true of elderly people, especially those who have developed cerebral arteriosclerosis. Unsteadiness in walking, temporary weakness and noises in the ears, are symptoms which can precede a cerebral hemorrhage or clot in one of the arteries, which causes apoplexy or a stroke. Paralysis of one side of the body with, occasionally an interference in speech, is the less serious case of strokes. The paralysis usually disappears partially or entirely within a period of months.
Examination of the blood vessels in the retina of the eye helps doctors to determine the condition of the blood vessels in cases of hypertension.
Approximately 15 to 20 percent of deaths in people over fifty is cause by immediate or remote consequence of hypertension.
Low Blood Pressure (hypotension) - Arbitrarily described as pressures falling below 110 mn Hg for the systolic level and below 70 mm Hg for diastolic level.
Many normal women and men have blood pressure in this range. This type of low blood pressure is actually compatible with a greater than-average life expectancy.
Sometimes hypotension develops during a course Of serious disease such as heart failure, acute infections, malnutrition, Addison's disease, trauma, circulatory shock from hemorrhage, Simmond's disease,, hyperinsulinism and others. People with hypotension are weak and usually complain of dizziness and faintness.
Normal Blood Pressure - At birth the blood pressure is approximately 75/40, with these figures representing the systolic pressure over the diastolic pressure. Gradually a rise occurs during adolescence to 100/60. Between the ages of 20 and 40, it is 120/80 and after 60 years of age it becomes about 145/90. This is a fairly stationary figure after that point.