Low blood pressure is a condition in which a person's blood pressure is much lower than normal. This can result in symptoms such as lightheadedness, dizziness or even collapse. Blood pressure that is too low results in too little blood flow to the brain, heart, and other vital body organs. It is actually very hard to determine a normal blood pressure. This is because a reading one person's normal may well be another person's abnormal. Therefore, it is imperative that, if there is a suspicion that a person may be suffering from a problem resulting from their blood pressure, it is investigated very carefully. Even small fluxtuations in their blood pressure may result in adverse medical problems



A text book blood pressure reading in the normal range is generally around 120/80 mmHg. If you often feel faint and suffer from light-headedness during the day, it is advisable to check with your doctor as to whether you may be suffering from low blood pressure. Low blood pressure can leave one person feeling light headed, headachy, or sluggish. Yet another person can function with a blood pressure so low they should be suffering severely, however, they experience no symptoms whatsoever. They may only be advised that they have a low blood pressure during a blood pressure check for another reason.

It is recommended also that you see your doctor if you lose consciousness upon standing, or if you repeatedly feel weak, constantly tired or light-headed. In younger patients, low blood pressure can be a sign of chronic fatigue syndrome. In older people it can point to serious problems such as heart disease. Women in their 40's or younger, may find their blood pressure dropping below 90/60 mmHg in the course of pregnancy, while crash dieting or even when the weather is hot. Therefore, it's important that if they are aware that they are prone to low blood pressure, they monitor it regularly.

Another thing to bear in mind is if a person is taking medication for high blood pressure, it can sometimes cause a rapid drop in blood pressure resulting in the similar symptoms. Therefore, for people regularly taking this type of medication it is important to carefully select the time of day they take their medication to minimize the resulting effects.