What is Blood Pressure all about ?

Have you had your blood pressure taken yet ? Whether you're having the odd stumble into your local doctor's clinic in search of a cure for the average ailment, caught a bad breeze of misfortune and ended up hospitalised, or just popping in for your annual check up, you'll more than likely get your blood pressure taken. Ya lucky thing.

You may have realised that pressure has got something to do with your health.

But........What's blood pressure ? You often encounter it mingled with topics such as "health" and "cholesterol" and "exercise" and "smoking" and all those other prim and proper terms that make us hang our heads in shame and feel ever so goddamn unfit. And you may also know a few people with high blood pressure, who may tell you how they're going on a healthy diet, and start bringing carrot sticks with them wherever they go. People who you automatically associate with hungry bunnies.

So.....What is blood pressure ?

Well.

It is the pressure (obviously) exerted by the flow of blood (aha.) against the walls of the main arteries.

So what ? How is that significant ? Blood pressure basically shows the amount of work that your heart has to do to pump blood around the body. Everyone has blood pressure. Everyone alive, that is. Two numbers are involved in measuring the level of blood pressure. On one of these machines, this is how they are shown (the top two big-sized numbers):

When the heart beats, what actually happens is that the heart muscle squeezes the blood out from the heart. This blood is pumped through the main artery and out of the heart, travelling to the lungs or around the body. Think: a for artery, a for away from the heart. It's like a little journey. The pressure of this blood flow hitting against the wall of the artery is called systolic blood pressure or the systole. On a blood pressure reading this is symbolised by the top number.

But what about the other number ? Yup, you guessed it, this is called diastolic blood pressure , otherwise known as the diastole. It symbolises the pressure of the blood flowing back to the heart, when the heart muscles relax. The force of the blood against the walls of the artery is a lot weaker than before, which means that there is not that much pressure involved, which means that the number symbolising it (the bottom number on a reading) is smaller than the number on the top.

The ultra normal level of blood pressure as stated in many textbooks is ¹²⁰/₈₀, but in reality, hardly anyone hits that "perfect, normal" target.

Your blood pressure can be influenced by many things. For example, it can vary with age and the relative conditions the individuals may have. It can depend on your mood; if you feel nervous or anxious, the measurement can be higher than usual. Blood pressure also depends on how active you are before it is measured. If you had be out jogging for a good half an hour - and you wouldn't be exactly categorising yourself as a dedicated competitor in the official Olympics' marathon - chances are your blood pressure will come up.

Why ? In simple terms, because when you're running, you're using the energy in your muscles. Muscles need blood to supply them with oxygen to work properly, so the heart has to act the busy postman, and shoot the flow of blood (carrying oxygen) down their way. In other words, the heart has to work harder and faster, which in turn increases the heart beat. It also increases the pumping action and subsequent flow of blood in and out of the heart, thus, increasing the blood pressure.

Athletes generally have a lower blood pressure than ordinary people even when they are exercising, because their bodies have become used to this sort of work and the heart does not need to work much harder. Likewise, for all us computer potatoes out here, a little exercise could have us bending over and panting and spluttering and coughing and holding our ribs like there is no tomorrow, while our hearts beat as quickly as the engine on a Ferrari Enzo and our blood pressures hitting the roof.

Still, there isn't a definite blood pressure you have to get to be "normal", but if you do get the ever so famous ¹²⁰/₈₀, good for you !

Blood pressure values are pretty much individualised, but there is a normal healthy range of blood pressures that you'd wanna say within in general. These levels range between the lowest ¹⁰⁰/₆₀ to the highest ¹⁴⁰/₉₀. If you find that you are outside of this range, but have had a family history of this value, then I won't worry too much about it. However, if there aren't any history you are aware of, it mightn't be a bad idea to go for a check up.

Here is a very interesting article on the truths about blood pressure. For more statistics and whatnot, check out this hub on what is normal blood pressure. If you are a guy and wondering about your blood pressure, you could also have a read on this informative hub on what's the norm for men. With this hub, we have different values for norms, but it is very informative and well worth a read.