Blood Pressure Explained

February 11th, 2010 by allanmadams Leave a reply »

Blood Pressure Revealed

Blood pressure levels (or in this case – vascular pressure levels) are one of the leading indicators of overall health and fitness for people of all ages and are gauged by determining how much force is created by circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels. On the other hand, arterial pressure is the type that indicates the level of pressure as blood traverses the arteries, arterioles, capillaries and veins and is the term most often associated with blood pressure; moreover, arterial pressure decreases as the bloods travels farther away from the heart.

When measuring arterial pressure, a sphygmomanometer (a device that provides measurements based on the level of mercury in an glass column or cylindrical glass tube) is commonly used to determine the amount of circulating pressure and is considered to be non-invasive way of measuring blood pressure. While most modern blood pressure devices no longer contain mercury, pressure level values continue to be reported in millimeters of mercury, or mmHg. The systolic arterial pressure is defined as the peak pressure in the arteries, which occurs near the beginning of the cardiac cycle; the diastolic arterial pressure is the lowest pressure (at the resting phase of the cardiac cycle). When considering the total overall pressure of blood flow throughout the cardiac cycle, the measurement is reported as the mean arterial pressure. Moreover, pulse pressure indicates the variance of maximum and minimum pressure levels.

Typical values for a resting, healthy adult human are approximately 120 mmHg (16 kPa) systolic and 80 mmHg (11 kPa) diastolic (written as 120/80 mmHg, and spoken as “one twenty over eighty”) with large individual variations. The measure of your arterial blood pressure can change as often as the heart beats, and your blood pressure may vary at different times of the day. Fluctuations in your arterial blood pressure and are usually not cause for great concern – unless there are particularly large differences. Some common factors that may affect your arterial blood pressure levels are: diet, drugs and alcohol, fitness and even stress.

Blood pressure levels that are either too high or too low can be a cause of concern and may lead to other health problems. The condition associated with elevated blood pressure levels is known as hypertension, and when pressure levels are too low, hypotension is the term used to name the condition. Along with body temperature, blood pressure measurements are the most commonly measured physiological parameters.

Your good health is the most valuable asset you can have and if you have a blood pressure concern, read up on all the information you can find. Seeking professional advice is essential and have a chat with your doctor about your blood pressure concerns. Balance up what you’ve learned and work on maintaining a healthy blood pressure level and maintaining good health.

You can learn more about blood pressure levels and other cardiac health related issues by using reliable specialist sites.

 

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