What is blood pressure?
- When your heart beats, it pumps blood round your body to give it the energy and oxygen it needs.
- As the blood moves, it pushes against the sides of the blood vessels. § The strength of this pushing is your blood pressure.
- If your blood pressure is too high, it puts extra strain on your arteries (and your heart) and this may lead to heart attacks and strokes.
| SHORT DEFINATION: 1)Blood pressure is a measure of the force that your heart uses to pump blood around your body. 2)millimeters of mercury” (mmHg) to measure the BLODD PRESSURE. 3)1000Pa Is about 7mmHg. |
What Blood Pressure Numbers Mean
- Blood pressure is measured using two numbers.
- The first number, called systolic blood pressure
- Measures the pressure in your blood vessels when your heart beats.
- The second number, called diastolic blood pressure
- Measures the pressure in your blood vessels when your heart rests between beats.
| ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Blood Pressure Levels |
| Normal | systolic: less than 120 mmHg diastolic: less than 80mmHg |
| At risk (prehypertension) | systolic: 120–139 mmHg diastolic: 80–89 mmHg |
| High | systolic: 140 mmHg or higher diastolic: 90 mmHg or higher |
HOW TO MEASURE BP
- THERE ARE 2 WAYS TO MEASURE BP
- INVASIVE BP AND
- NON INVASIVE BP
- Invasive blood pressure monitoring: Invasive (intra-arterial) blood pressure(IBP) monitoring is a commonly used technique in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and is also often used in the operating theatre.
- This technique involves direct measurement of arterial pressure by inserting a cannula needle in a suitable artery.
- This measurement give accurate beat-to-beat information.
IN NON INVASIVE METHOD
FOLLOWING METHODS ARE INCLUDED
1)PALPATORY
2)AUSCULTATORY
3)OSCILLOMETRY
- Palpatory method – Inflate the cuff rapidly to 70 mmHg, and increase by 10 mm Hg increments while palpating the radial pulse.
- Note the level of pressure at which the pulse disappears and subsequently reappears during deflation will be systolic blood pressure.
Auscultatory method is a method in which bp is measured using sphygmomanometer.
- Initially the cuff is inflated to a level higher than the systolic pressure.
- Thus the artery is completely compressed, there is no blood flow, and no sounds are heard.
- The cuff pressure is slowly decreased.
- At systolic level tapping sound is heard
- When dysystolic pressure reaches tapping sound disappears.
- Sounds heard in measuring bp are called Korotkoff
- Korotkoff sounds are blood flow sounds that healthcare providers observe while taking blood pressure with a sphygmomanometer over the brachial artery in the antecubital fossa.
Oscillometric method
- The oscillometric method of measuring blood pressure with an automated cuff
- Oscillatory devices produce a digital readout and work on the principle that blood flowing through an artery between systolic and diastolic pressures causes vibrations in the arterial wall
Changes in BP:
- Blood pressure changes all the time: decreases (sleep ,rest)
- Increases(exercise, sports, stress, anxiety)
- Normal changing in bp is a vital part of healthy cardiovascular system.
- Factors affecting bp: •obesity; •diabetes; • stress;
- insufficient intake of potassium, calcium, and magnesium; lack of physical activity; and chronic alcohol consumption.
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