I have a vague understanding of what it means when someone has high or low blood pressure. What does it mean though if someone´s diastolic rises/falls and the systolic does the opposite? Is there a general name for this state of affairs, what is the standard approach to treating it and is there any "understanding" about what causes it. (This is not something that affects me, by the way).Thank you for the answers. I think I could have expressed myself a little bit better. What I meant by the question is; if someone has a "normal" blood pressure of say 110/60, and an event occurs that causes them to have a value such as 90/70, what sort of event could that have been.
Also, I am not well versed in the functioning of the heart so all of the information given so far is very useful.
matador 89 - CoolPotato,
ReplyDeleteHere is an explanation that should help your understanding. Blood pressure results from two forces. One is created by the heart as it pumps blood into the arteries and through the circulatory system. The other is the force of the arteries as they resist the blood flow. The higher (systolic) number represents the pressure while the heart contracts to pump blood to the body. The lower (diastolic) number represents the pressure when the heart relaxes between beats. The systolic pressure is always stated first. For example: 118/76 (118 over 76); systolic = 118, diastolic = 76. Blood pressure BELOW 120 over 80 mmHg (millimetres of mercury) is considered optimal for adults. A systolic pressure of 120 to 139 mmHg or a diastolic pressure of 80 to 89 mmHg is considered "prehypertension" and needs to be watched carefully. A blood pressure reading of 140 over 90 or higher is considered elevated (high). High blood pressure usually has no symptoms. In fact, many people have high blood pressure for years without knowing it. That's why it's called the "silent killer." Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure. It doesn't refer to being tense, nervous or hyperactive. A one-off blood pressure reading that is high does not mean that you have 'high blood pressure'. Your blood pressure varies throughout the day. It may be high for a short time if you are anxious, stressed, or have just been exercising. You are considered to have 'high blood pressure' (hypertension) if you have several blood pressure readings that are high, and which are taken on different occasions, and when you are relaxed. The normal pulse rate for men is approximately 68 to 75 beats per minute, whereas the normal pulse rate for women is approximately 72 to 80 beats per minute. The normal pulse rate for adults, at rest or during some physical activity, depends on their age and weight. For instance, a younger woman will display a higher heart rate than an older woman. Similarly, a woman with more weight will display a higher heart rate compared to her counterpart with less weight. Low Blood Pressure, unlike high blood pressure, is defined primarily by signs and symptoms of low blood flow and not by a specific blood pressure number. Some individuals routinely may have blood pressures of 90/50 with no symptoms and therefore do not have low blood pressure. However, others who normally have higher blood pressures may develop symptoms of low blood pressure if their blood pressure drops to 100/60.
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Hope this helps
matador 89
Luke Skywalker - To answer your question first you must understand the idea of "pulse pressure", which is the difference between systolic and diastolic pressures. It is the cause of most of the variations in systolic pressure, because it changes continuously, second to second, while at rest, diastolic stays roughly the same most of the time.
ReplyDeleteThey behave like this because pulse pressure directly reflects how much blood the heart is pumping out at each stroke, (which varies from beat to beat of the heart), while diastolic simply reflects the volume of blood in your arteries, which is always essentially the same while you're at rest.
So, when you add the two together, you get systolic pressure, and it varies from second to second as pulse pressure varies, while diastolic stays roughly constant. But diastolic CAN fall (or rise) when the heart is not pumping out enough (or is pumping out too little) blood to maintain the volume of blood constant in the arteries.
Then, if the diastolic FALLS (because the cardiac output isn't sufficient) pulse pressure will RISE to increase arterial blood volume and restore it .
And if the opposite happens, and diastolic RISES, then pulse pressure will FALL.
That is, under these circumstances they will "go in opposite directions" as your question asks
Bit complicated, admittedly, but I hope I've answered your question.
There isn't a standard name for this mechanism; it's just how the system works.
And there isn't any standard approach to treating it, because it doesn't need treatment. It's normality in operation.
Re EDIT:
Well pulse pressure has dropped from 50 to 20, and that means that the heart is pumping out less than half the amount of blood at each stroke than it was before the event (whatever the event was).
Although it is crucial, you don't state how the heart rate has changed, but unless it more than doubled it couldn't make up for such a drop in ventricular stroke output, yet the diastolic pressure has risen from 60 to 70, meaning that despite this, the volume of blood in the systemic vasculature has actually gone UP so the blood vessels have contracted to conserve the volume in the system (vasoconstriction).
Difficult to surmise that kind of event, but it would happen if the ability of the heart to function as a pump was impaired in some way. Leaky valve? blockage in the aorta? , embolism? or haemorrhage upstream of the heart, in the pulmonary loop?
gangadharan nair - When systolic BP increases > 140 mmHg or diastolic BP increases > 90 mmHg, then it is called high blood pressure (hypertension).
ReplyDeleteIsolated systolic hypertension, however, is defined as a systolic pressure that is above 140 mm Hg with a diastolic pressure that still is below 90.
When systolic BP lowers to < 90 mmHg or diastlic BP lowers < 60 mmHg, then it is called low blood pressure (hypotension). The hypotensive patient must have fatigue, dizziness, light headedness, confusion, blurred vision or fainting.