What is blood pressure?

What is blood pressure?

blood pressure

When the heart beats, it pumps the blood through the arteries to the rest of the body, and this force that pumps the heart blood pressure on the walls of blood vessels and called Systolic Blood Pressure, which forms the numerator in blood pressure readings, The blood is described by two numbers, numeral numeral and number in the denominator, while diastolic blood pressure represents blood pressure on the walls of blood vessels during the heartbeat between each pulse. Blood pressure is important for delivering oxygen and nutrients to different parts of the body. It is not only important; it is also important for the transfer of white blood cells for immunity, hormones such as insulin, and many other functions.

Blood pressure measurement

When measuring blood pressure, the person should sit on a stool. It is advised not to place a man on the other, with the need to touch the feet of the ground, and the arm must be supported so that it is almost at the level parallel to the heart. It should be noted that the presence of blood pressure reading above the normal limit requires the monitoring of blood pressure readings in person and recorded for a review of the doctor in this regard.

Although most attention is given to reading systolic blood pressure as a major cause of cardiovascular disease for people over the age of 50, reading diastolic blood pressure may be used alone to diagnose high blood pressure, The risk of death due to ischemic heart disease or stroke is doubled for every 10 mmHg increase in diastolic blood pressure readings, and for every 20 mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure reading in people Aged between 40 and 89 years .

Blood pressure readings

Blood pressure readings are divided into five stages, according to the American Heart Association. The following is a clarification of each stage:

  • Normal blood pressure: Blood pressure is considered to be within normal limits if the blood pressure is less than 120/80 mm Hg and higher than 90/60 mm Hg. If the blood pressure reading is 90/60 mm Hg or less, the person has low hypotension, Causes of low blood pressure include:
    • Heart problems.
    • Drought.
    • Pregnancy.
    • Blood loss.
    • Squeamishness.
    • Severe infection or septicemia.
    • Endocrine problems.
    • Malnutrition.
    • Take some medications.
  • Hypertension: At this stage, diastolic blood pressure ranges from 120-129 mm Hg with diastolic blood pressure below 80 mm Hg. In such cases, the risk of high blood pressure increases unless appropriate measures are taken to prevent the development of the condition.
  • The first stage of high blood pressure: Also called pre-high blood pressure (in English: Prehypertension), and at this stage systolic blood pressure ranges permanently between 130-139mm Hg, or a diastolic pressure between 80-89mm Hg, usually doctors recommend at this stage to make changes in Lifestyle, drugs may be prescribed to treat blood pressure at this stage.
  • Second stage of high blood pressure: At this stage, blood pressure is permanently equal to 140/90 mm Hg or higher, and at this stage, doctors prescribe more than one treatment, in addition to the changes that should be made to the lifestyle.
  • Hypertension: (English: Hypertensive crisis), and this situation requires medical intervention, when exceeding read blood 180/120 mm Hg person must wait for five minutes and blood pressure checked again, if the case remained on what should contact your doctor directly, but if accompanied bout of high blood appearance of any of the symptoms that indicate damage to a body pressure then the members must communicate with the emergency immediately without waiting for 5 minutes to re-examination, and these symptoms are the following:
    • Symptoms of a stroke, such as paralysis or loss of ability to control facial or limb muscles.
    • pain in chest.
    • Breathing difficulty.
    • Back ache.
    • Difficult to speak.
    • Change in vision.
    • Numbness or weakness.
    • Headaches.
    • Rotor.
    • The appearance of blood in the urine.

Prevention and control of high blood pressure

Healthy people should take the necessary measures to change their lifestyle in order to avoid high blood pressure and heart disease, as well as those with high blood pressure. Success in controlling blood pressure by changing lifestyle may avoid, delay or reduce the need to eat The following are the most important measures:

  • Loss of excess weight and attention to the waist circumference; where the risk is greater if the waist circumference of the male more than 102 cm and the female if more than 89 cm.
  • Exercising for at least half an hour for most days of the week may help reduce blood pressure by 4-9 mm Hg.
  • Eat healthy food, ie vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and avoid foods high in cholesterol and saturated fat, and eating healthy food may reduce blood pressure by 14 mm Hg.
  • Reduce sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg per day, reducing blood pressure by 2-8 mm Hg.
  • Stop smoking and drink alcohol.
  • Avoid stress.
  • Monitor blood pressure at home regularly, and check with your doctor regularly.
  • The caffeine effect in blood pressure may vary depending on the person’s consumption. Caffeine has the ability to raise blood pressure by 10 mm Hg in people who rarely take caffeine, while it has little effect on people who are used to it. To know the role of caffeine in raising blood pressure, the person is advised to drink a drink containing caffeine and then measuring blood pressure within half an hour, if found a rise of 5-10 mM Hg, it means that the body is affected by caffeine.