Saturday, January 16, 2010

INTRODUCTION TO HYPERTENSION

The heart pumps oxygen-rich blood into the arteries (blood vessels), which then carry the blood throughout the body. Blood pressure is the measurement of the force of blood pushing against the arterial walls. The only way to know your blood pressure is to have it measured by your doctor.

Two numbers are used to describe blood pressure. Both are a measurement of the force of the blood against arterial walls.
  • The top number is called the systolic blood pressure, which indicates the pressure of the blood against the arteries when the heart contracts to pump blood. It is a measure of blood pressure when the heart beats.
  • The bottom number is called the diastolic blood pressure, which indicates the pressure of the blood against the artery walls when the heart is resting in between beats. It indicates the elasticity of the arteries.
When blood pressure is recorded, the systolic pressure is always recorded first, followed by a diagonal line and the diastolic pressure. If a person has a blood pressure of 118/78mmHg, it means that the patient has a reading of 118 systolic and 78 diastolic blood pressures. The unit of measure of blood pressure is in millimeter mercury and it is usually written as mmHg.

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