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Our blood pressure is constantly altering and it is extremely rare for an individual to have a blood pressure level which is always the same no matter what. Almost everything we do will have an affect on our blood pressure which will move up and down as we go about our normal day to day business. Simple things such as walking the dog, walking, talking, drinking, standing up, watching television, sleeping, mowing the lawn, eating and almost anything else you can think of will alter your blood pressure.
While the fact that your blood pressure is always changing is nothing more than a simple fact of life it can nonetheless create difficulties for doctors who need to be able to use blood pressure as a monitor of your general health. The problem is therefore to attempt to define a blood pressure level which we can consider to be a normal average and then to define limits below and above this figure which will represent the normal range of blood pressure change. A good point at which to start is to consider the pressure in the body's arteries as the heart is pumping freshly oxygenated blood throughout the body.
Our blood carries a mixture of nutrients and oxygen to all parts of the body through a series of blood vessels starting with the main aorta taking blood from the heart and ending in a multitude of tiny capillaries.
The first consideration therefore is exactly how high a pressure is required in the aorta as the blood leaves the heart for it to reach its destination in far flung parts of the body.
Next, the second consideration is how high a pressure is required in the capillaries for oxygen and nutrients to be transferred into the tissues of the body.
Careful study over many years shows that the best arterial pressure to deliver blood throughout the body and to enable the movement of oxygen and nutrients into the tissues of the body is 120 mm Hg. This figure represents the average blood pressure when the heart is pumping blood around the body and is frequently known as your systolic pressure.
As with most things in life though a pressure slightly above or below this figure is not going to make a lot of difference and your body will continue to function quite normally. However, if your blood pressure drops too low or rises too high then you will start to run into difficulty.
So exactly what are the lower and upper limits within which the average individual should be able to continue operating normally?
Here things become a little bit fuzzy and the answer varies from person to person. However generally speaking the upper limit for blood pressure in the majority of people will be in the region of 140 mg Hg and the lower limit will be in the region of 90 mg Hg.
Perhaps the most important starting point however is to establish the figure which is right for you and which takes into account such things as your age and general health together with your lifestyle. Having agreed this figure with your doctor it is then simply a matter of keeping an eye on you blood pressure.
When a health care professional takes your blood pressure, they put a cuff around your arm and manually or mechanically pump the cuff to full inflation. They slowly release the air as they listen to the sound of blood coursing through your veins. The level of mm Hg or millimeters of Mercury is what the professional records when they first hear the beat caused by the heart pumping blood. This number is the systolic level and the upper number in the equation that determines your blood pressure.
The health care professional continues to listen until they no longer hear the beat. As the pressure in the cuff drops gradually, they will no longer hear the heart pump eventually and they record this number. This is the resting pressure or diastolic pressure and bottom number of the equation.
If your heart beats 70 times per minute over the course of the day, it accomplishes 100,800 beats in a single day! Various conditions, both normal and abnormal make the heart beat harder. Some of these are stress, which creates the hormone adrenaline that constricts the blood vessels in certain parts of the body in preparation for circumstances such as ‘fight or flight', arterial blockage, and reduction of vessel elasticity.
When your blood pressure reading is between 90 to 120 for the upper measurement or systolic reading, and the lower number is 60 to 79 for the diastolic reading, your blood pressure is normal.
Higher blood pressure exists and is broken down according to the severity of the reading. Prehypertension begins when the blood pressure for the systolic reading is higher than 120 but no higher than 139 or the diastolic pressure is between 80 to 89. This level is a warning that you need to make serious changes in your lifestyle to reduce potential damage and further increase in blood pressure.
Level 1 high hypertension exists when either the systolic pressure is 140 to 159 or the diastolic pressure is 90 to 99. This level is serious and often requires medication, weight loss or exercise if doctors can find no underlying problem causing the increased pressure.
Anything higher than these numbers is level 2 hypertension. When your blood pressure reaches these levels, you are in imminent danger for stroke, kidney failure or coronary problems.
Over long periods of time, the increased blood pressure creates changes in the blood vessels and other parts of the body that lead to severe debilitating diseases and can lead to a higher risk of both mortality and morbidity.
You can take steps to reduce your blood pressure if you find it to be unnaturally high. Seek professional help immediately. Prescription drugs may be necessary to initially control the hypertension, but a change in lifestyle is the best method for reducing the blood pressure levels.
• Increase your physical activity. Whenever you begin an exercise program, work with your physician to design a program that manages to increase your heart rate without putting too much strain on it.. Increased fitness reduces blood pressure numbers.
• Lose weight.
• Reduce cholesterol and plaque build up in the vessels
• RELAX! Stress, particularly unresolved stress, creates high blood pressure
• Change your diet. There are several food that actually lower your cholesterol and reduce your weight, factors for hypertension.
Hopefully, after reading this article, you will no longer be wondering, “What is normal blood pressure?” Instead, we hope that you are on your way to leading a healthier and more fulfilling life.