High blood pressure, what is it?

[The Library of BiblioCardiograph]

The dangers of high blood pressure otherwise known as hypertension the silent killer cannot be over emphasized.
Many studies have shown that because of its nature of not showing any symptoms it can go undetected, damaging vital parts of our circulatory system , including the blood vessels in our hearts, brains and kidneys.

There is evidence that if we leave hypertension undetected we are three times as likely to get coronary artery disease, six times as likely to get congestive heart failure, and seven times as likely to get a stroke.

What is it?

Blood pressure is the force exerted by the walls of the blood vessels against the flow of blood being pumped by our hearts into the rest of the circulatory system.
When the force is high and remains elevated the tension against the flow increases, causing the heart to work harder to pump the blood into the rest of the body.

The additional workload on the heart increases the muscle mass in the heart, decreasing its ability to pump efficiently.

Measuring our blood pressure

The pressure inside our arteries can be measured using a Sphygmomanometer. The Sphygmomanometer is a blood pressure monitor which measures how high the pressure in our arteries can raise a column of mercury. It consists of a cuff that gets filled with air, a hollow rubber bulb which pumps air into the cuff, and a glass tube containing a column of mercury.

The cuff is wrapped around the arm. A stethoscope is placed on the artery of the arm just below the cuff. The pulsation of the blood in the arteries can then be heard. Air is pumped into the cuff, causing it to press down on the arteries. This stops the blood flow and the sounds stop.

Then the air is slowly let out of the cuff. When the pressure of the cuff becomes less than the blood pressure, the blood flow returns. The pressure at which the blood flow returns is called the Systolic pressure. It represents the blood pressure when the heart is contracting. The pressure is determined by reading the gauge on the mercury tube.

As more air gets released from the cuff, the sound becomes muffled. The pressure at this point is called the Diastolic pressure. It represents the pressure while the heart is relaxing.

The good thing is that usually we can treat hypertension by changing our lifestyles

Things we can do

1) Lose weight
2) Exercise
3) Follow a health diet plan
4) Medications