Blood Pressure Revealed

Blood pressure levels (or in this case – vascular pressure levels) are one of the leading indicators of overall health and fitness for people of all ages and are gauged by determining how much force is created by circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels. On the other hand, arterial pressure is the type that indicates the level of pressure as blood traverses the arteries, arterioles, capillaries and veins and is the term most often associated with blood pressure; moreover, arterial pressure decreases as the bloods travels farther away from the heart.

When measuring arterial pressure, a sphygmomanometer (a device that provides measurements based on the level of mercury in an glass column or cylindrical glass tube) is commonly used to determine the amount of circulating pressure and is considered to be non-invasive way of measuring blood pressure. While most modern blood pressure devices no longer contain mercury, pressure level values continue to be reported in millimeters of mercury, or mmHg. When measuring blood pressure, there are two types that are reported. Systolic arterial pressure is measured when the pressure is at its highest in the arteries of the body, and generally occurs at the beginning of the cardiac cycles. On the other hand, diastolic pressure refers to the pressure at its lowest level, and is noted between cardiac cycles or when the heart is in a momentary resting state. The average pressure throughout the cardiac cycle is reported as mean arterial pressure and the pulse pressure reflects the difference between the maximum and minimum pressures measured.

For a healthy adult in a rested state, normal blood pressure levels are 120 mmHg (16 kPa) for the systolic reading and 80 mmHg (11kPa) for the diastolic pressure. This is normally written as 120/80 mmHg and is spoken as “one hundred twenty over eighty”. Although the 120/80 mmHg is a common benchmark, normal readings vary widely depending on the health and overall fitness of the individual. Arterial blood pressure is not constant and changes frequently based on many different factors and undergoes fluctuations that are both natural and to be expected. In fact, blood pressure levels can vary as frequently as one heart beat to the next.Things that cause blood pressure levels to rise and fall are: stress, nutrition, drugs or alcohol and disease.

If your arterial blood pressure is too high, the condition is known as hypertension. On the other hand, if your pressure levels are too low, the condition is known as hypotension. The only basic health test performed more than a blood pressure check is the measuring of the body’s temperature with a thermometer.

Your good health should be your prime concern and if you have a blood pressure concern, research all the guidance you can find. Taking professional advice is the sensible thing to do and discuss your blood pressure concerns with your doctor. Balance up what you’ve learned and work on completing your plan to good health and maintaining a healthy blood pressure level.

For the most thorough and up to date information on blood pressure levels, arterial pressure monitoring and other useful information, use reliable specialist sites dealing with blood pressure issues.