![]() When your blood pressure numbers are consistently greater than 135/85, you’re considered to have high blood pressure, or hypertension (but if you have diabetes or kidney disease, 130/80 is considered a high reading). ![]() Healthy blood pressure Optimal blood pressure is a reading of lower than 120/80. ![]() During this phase, your heart fills with blood in advance of the next beat. The diastolic value represents your heart “at rest,” between beats.The systolic value represents your heart “at work,” the pressure exerted when your heart beats and fills your arteries with blood.These values are measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). The top number is the systolic and the bottom the diastolic. Your blood pressure is recorded as two numbers (for example, 124/85 mm Hg, as shown in the graphic). The more blood your heart pumps and the more narrow your arteries, the higher your blood pressure. Blood pressure is determined by the amount of blood your heart pumps and the amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries. This pressure is very important because it allows the blood to flow through the arteries and deliver nutrients to all the organs of your body. It returns to pre-pregnancy values toward the end of pregnancy.How does blood pressure relate to cardiovascular disease?īlood pressure is the result of circulating blood exerting pressure against the walls of your arteries. It decreases about halfway through the first trimester until mid-pregnancy due to progesterone effects that relax the walls of blood vessels, causing decreased peripheral vascular resistance. Blood pressure varies throughout the duration of pregnancy.Have the peer take your blood pressure again, and then lie down and rest for five minutes. Then, run on the spot or do some other cardiac activity for five minutes. Blood pressure returns to baseline within five minutes of rest following activity. The sympathetic nervous system is stimulated by exercise, stress, anxiety, pain, anger, and fear, which increases blood pressure.Blood pressure can be higher in people who are obese because the heart has to work harder to perfuse the body’s tissues.This is one reason why healthcare providers document the time a client’s blood pressure is taken. Try it out: take your blood pressure when you wake up in the morning and then again in late afternoon, and note the difference. The diurnal cycle influences blood pressure to be lower in the morning and increase throughout the day until early evening.When determining risk for high blood pressure, it is important to consider ethnicity as a contributing factor. Research has revealed that ethnicity may be a predictor of blood pressure, but this causation is not necessarily biological, but rather sociocultural.After puberty, females have lower blood pressure than males, whereas after menopause females have higher blood pressure than males. Blood pressure is similar in childhood for males and females.The general pattern is that blood pressure rises with age, so normal variations tend to be higher for older adults.For example, a blood pressure of 90/50 mm Hg may be normal for a healthy, asymptomatic 20-year-old adult.įactors that influence blood pressure include age, sex, ethnicity, weight, exercise, emotions/stress, pregnancy, and diurnal rhythm as well as medication use and disease processes. The healthcare provider considers the client’s baseline blood pressure and the client’s current health state in conjunction with subjective data and other objective data. For example, in adults, normal blood pressure can range from 95–145/60–90 mm Hg. However, this is only an average and the healthcare provider needs to consider acceptable ranges for individual clients. The average blood pressure for an adult is 120/80 mm Hg.
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