Understanding Blood Pressure

Any available medical or paramedic staff will react as quickly as possible to stop the bleeding and stabilize the patient. A complete loss of blood pressure means our death, it's as simply as that.

However, we need to be aware that we can have complications that mean our bodies are not working as well as they should. There are no easy complete cures. Getting a good blood pressure will mean changes to our lifestyle and eating habits. Notice I say habits and not diet as it is no good to have our weight dropping and then increasing in a cycle of diet and non-diet. We need to start thinking differently about food and drink to be as fit as possible for as long as possible.

When we take our bodies for granted, we find they have been with us for so long and rarely give us any trouble at all, but when we fail to look after them, then the problems start. Our blood pressure changes from the normal and starts to go higher. Some would say or lower but doctors in the UK would argue that an athlete has lower blood pressure than normal and so it can be a healthy sign and not a sign of illness.

Before you beg, steal, borrow or buy equipment to check your blood pressure then follow this simple explanation. Your blood pressure will vary, day by day and cycle by cycle (this is the cycle of the heart pumping the blood). The more worried you get the more your blood pressure will rise, causing yourself more worry.

If you are reading this because of your health concern for yourself or someone else, then do not go out and buy any equipment to measure blood pressure. Wait until the doctor advises you or your friend to check their own blood pressure. Our blood pressure has varied right through our lives. It was lower when we were an infant and a small child. It normally lowers in our senior years. Blood pressure changes when we are standing, or sitting or lying down. Sometimes we feel out of balance when we jump up too quickly, that is a change to our blood pressure.

So we need to look into blood pressure. What is normal? What is a too low blood pressure? What is a too high blood pressure? What health problems can we expect from the different blood pressure scenarios? You need to remember that a doctor will take each case on its own merits and will not generalize, as they seek to deal with your specific concerns and fears. Family history is important so getting the information about family members with blood pressure problems may be very helpful. I can remember that an aunt of mine had high blood pressure for years and my mother would say she was "living on her nerves". We need to know if there is any family history of high blood pressure or heart disease.

What on earth is 120/80 anyway and how does it relate to the real world. The numbers are measurements of pressure in mmHg or millimeters of Hg (Mercury). They refer to two extremes in the arterial pressure cycle (the cycle of the blood being pumped through the heart) called by doctors the systolic and the diastolic. So the numbers are systolic arterial pressure/diastolic arterial pressure. Systolic is the peak pressure in the cardiac cycle, and the diastolic is the lowest pressure. From these two figures the average or mean arterial pressure can be calculated.

There is one other term to be noted and that is "pulse pressure" which is the difference between the two values (systolic and diastolic). I hope that is clear and we can now get away from the technicalities of measuring blood pressure to the effects this has on you and your body.