The blood pressure in our body is continually changing and it is extremely rare to find a person with a blood pressure reading that 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 sitting, walking the dog, talking, eating, drinking, walking, sleeping, standing up, taking a shower and almost anything else you can imagine can affect your blood pressure level.



While the fact that our blood pressure is constantly changing is nothing more than a simple fact of life it can however create difficulties for your doctor who needs to be able to make use of blood pressure as a monitor of your general health. The problem therefore is to try to establish a level of blood pressure which can be considered as a normal average and then define limits above and below this figure which will represent the normal range of blood pressure change. A good starting point is to examine the pressure in the body's arteries as the heart is pumping freshly oxygenated blood throughout the body.

The blood moves oxygen and a mix of nutrients to all parts of the body through a network of blood vessels beginning with the main aorta taking blood from the heart and ending in a mass of extremely small capillaries.

The first thing which needs to be considered therefore is precisely how high a pressure is needed in the aorta as the blood leaves the heart if it is to reach its destination in distant corners of the body.

Thereafter, the second thing which needs to be considered is how high a pressure is needed in the capillaries in order to move the nutrients and oxygen into the tissues of the body.

Careful research over several years has shown that the best arterial pressure to deliver blood to all areas of the body and to enable the movement of nutrients and oxygen into the tissues of the body is 120 mm Hg. This figure represents the average arterial pressure when the heart pumps blood around the body and is generally known as the systolic pressure.

like many things in life though a pressure slightly above or below this level will not make much difference and the body will still function normally. But, when the blood pressure climbs too high or drops too far then you are going to start to run into difficulty.

So precisely what are the upper and lower limits within which the average individual should be able to continue operating normally?

Here the edges become a little bit fuzzy and the answer varies from individual to individual. Nevertheless as a general rule the upper limit for blood pressure in most people is approximately 140 mg Hg and the lower limit is approximately 90 mg Hg.

Perhaps the most important point at which to start however is to establish the level which is right for you and which takes into account such things as your age and general health together with your lifestyle. Once you have agreed this figure with your physician it is then simply a matter of monitoring you blood pressure.