1.28. Blood Pressure http://www.ck12.org
1.28 Blood Pressure
- Define blood pressure and describe the effects of high blood pressure.
Why check your blood pressure?
It’s a good idea to have a blood pressure test as part of a routine physical, especially in adulthood. High blood
pressure is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. It’s important to know if you have high blood pressure, so it can
be treated. A combination of medications and lifestyle changes can be successful in lowering your blood pressure.
Blood Pressure
The health of your whole body depends on the good health of your cardiovascular system. One measure of the health
of your cardiovascular system is blood pressure.Blood pressureoccurs when circulating blood puts pressure on the
walls of blood vessels. Since blood pressure is primarily caused by the beating of your heart, the walls of the arteries
move in a rhythmic fashion.
Blood in arteries is under the greatest amount of pressure. The pressure of the circulating blood slowly decreases as
blood moves from the arteries and into the smaller blood vessels. Blood in veins is not under much pressure.
Thesystolicpressure is the pressure on the blood vessels when the heart beats. This is the time when there is the
highest pressure in the arteries. Thediastolicpressure is when your blood pressure is lowest, when the heart is
resting between beats.
Healthy Blood Pressure Ranges
Healthy ranges for blood pressure are:
- Systolic: less than 120