Read in this article:
- Two blood pressure readings
- What does the difference between upper and lower pressure mean?
- Reduced diastolic pressure
- High bottom pressure
- Increased systolic pressure
- Reduced upper pressure
- Controlling blood pressure is the key to the health of the whole body
Regularly measuring blood pressure is an important condition for maintaining health. A person may not feel a slight increase or decrease in blood pressure, but such changes indicate negative processes occurring in the body. If measures are not taken in time, there may be a negative effect on the heart and blood vessels, including a heart attack or stroke. This is why it is so important to use a home blood pressure monitor from time to time.
Two blood pressure readings
The device screen displays two parameters, for example, 120/80. They are called upper and lower pressure, scientifically – systolic and diastolic. The first indicates the level of maximum blood pressure on the walls of blood vessels; it is recorded at the moment of contraction of the heart muscle, when blood is pushed out of the heart. The second speaks about the force of blood pressure on the walls of arteries and veins at the moment of complete relaxation of the heart muscle.
Systolic pressure also shows how fast the heart beats. This figure increases with age, so the norm is higher for older people than for young people. Lower blood pressure reflects the force with which blood flows through the vessels. The higher their tone and elasticity, the closer to normal the indicators will be.
The norm is considered to be an upper pressure of 110-130 units (for people over 55 years old - about 140 units), a lower pressure of 65-80 units. The normal difference between them is about 40 units. But the indicators may vary somewhat due to the influence of various factors not related to diseases: emotional or physical stress, time of day and even nutrition.
What pressure is considered normal?
Blood pressure is divided into two indicators:
- upper (systolic) - it indicates the pressure of blood moving in the direction from the heart to the aorta and speaks of vascular resistance;
- lower (diastolic) - speaks of the strength of the blood, which returns to the heart, which is in a calm state and approaches the vena cava.
The average difference between the two blood pressure readings is 30–40 mmHg, with a blood pressure of 120/80 considered normal. Fluctuations in one direction or another, which do not affect a person’s well-being, are not considered pathological, therefore a tonometer reading of 115/75 mm Hg is not a reason for panic. There are some nuances to setting a normal blood pressure threshold.
Thus, blood pressure in older people is often higher than in middle-aged patients - this is explained by physiological changes that occur in the body over the years. Blood pressure indicators change when a person’s psychological state changes, after drinking strong tea or coffee, or after active physical activity, but at the same time it returns to normal on its own, without changing the state of health. A decrease in diastolic pressure on a regular basis indicates the development of hypotension; the same diagnosis is made to the patient if both blood pressure values - lower and upper - are constantly recorded below normal.
What does the difference between upper and lower pressure mean?
If a significant difference between systolic and diastolic pressure appears due to a feeling of hunger, hypothermia, excessive physical activity combined with insufficient nutrition or constant stress, this does not mean that pathology is developing in the body. When the effect of these factors disappears, the indicators may well return to normal, and there will be no cause for concern. But if the gap between the upper and lower pressure remains at rest, this may already indicate disturbances in the functioning of the heart, blood vessels, or other body systems.
A difference of less than 25% of the upper pressure may indicate several pathological conditions:
- Myocarditis;
- Left ventricular stroke;
- Tachycardia;
- Failure of internal organs;
- Aortic stenosis;
- Heart failure;
- Heart attack due to physical overexertion;
- Cardiosclerosis.
Such conditions are often accompanied by symptoms that are difficult to ignore. These are drowsiness and weakness, headache and dizziness, impaired attention and irritability. This situation can result in hypoxia, blurred vision, and sometimes cardiac arrest, so it should never be ignored. Such indicators on the tonometer screen and poor health require medical consultation and examination.
The difference between the upper and lower pressure exceeding 50 units is considered too large. The main causes of this condition are wear and tear and aging of the cardiovascular system. In such cases, tremors of the limbs and dizziness occur, the person becomes irritable or feels complete apathy, and fainting often occurs. Causes may also include pathologies of the digestive organs or gall bladder, and tuberculosis. Only a doctor can establish the true causes and prescribe effective treatment.
Any regular or prolonged deviation of systolic and diastolic pressure from the norm is a reason to pay close attention to your health. And it doesn’t matter whether we are talking about an increase or a decrease - both options can be dangerous.
Symptoms
A person with low diastolic blood pressure may feel dizzy and weak. They may fall more often, which can be especially dangerous for older people.
Low blood pressure usually does not cause any problems. Within certain limits, low blood pressure can be beneficial to your health. Low blood pressure becomes a problem when other symptoms are present, such as:
- dizziness
- fainting
- nausea
- unusual thirst and dehydration
- feeling weak
- blurred vision
- cold, clammy, pale skin
- rapid, shallow breathing
- depression
- palpitations
- headache
Symptoms may go away when you sit or rest. If blood pressure drops too low, the body's vital organs do not receive enough nutrients and oxygen to function properly. This may result in shock. If this occurs, a person should seek medical help immediately.
Reduced diastolic pressure
Low lower pressure is considered to be 50-59 units or less. Such changes indicate a violation of the tone of the vascular wall. When the indicator is less than 50 units, we can talk about a pronounced disturbance of blood flow in the brain, kidneys and other organs.
Diastolic pressure decreases against the background of kidney pathology, for example, Gitelman and Bartter syndromes. This phenomenon is also typical for people with a congenital disorder in the production of certain hormones, including adrenaline. Such changes are accompanied by fever, muscle weakness, vomiting, cramps and abdominal pain.
The first thing to do in such a situation is to consult a doctor. For diagnostic purposes, blood pressure monitoring and examinations are carried out to exclude endocrine pathologies and heart diseases. To increase lower blood pressure, special medications are used.
Prevention
Given that age can be a major cause of low diastolic blood pressure, it is not always possible for a person to prevent it. However, maintaining a healthy weight, eating a balanced diet, and exercising regularly can keep your blood pressure levels stable and also keep your heart healthy.
Lifestyle changes can help people with low diastolic blood pressure, including:
- to give up smoking
- reducing alcohol consumption
- eating small portions of food
- drinking more water
- avoidance of sitting or standing still for long periods of time
- getting up slowly after sitting or lying down
High bottom pressure
The cause of high lower pressure is usually impaired elasticity of blood vessels, their spasms or narrowing of the lumen due to accumulated cholesterol. An increased rate is recorded when:
- Kidney pathologies;
- Malfunctions of the adrenal glands;
- Vascular diseases;
- Impaired blood flow;
- Metabolic disorders;
- Overfatigue (physical or mental).
The cause may also be long-term use of certain medications. The doctor’s primary task is to identify the cause of the changes, and only then prescribe treatment. By the way, lower pressure can increase under the influence of external factors, for example, frequent stress, which causes the release of adrenaline and constriction of blood vessels, bad habits that deplete the heart muscle, poor nutrition, which contributes to the accumulation of cholesterol in the blood vessels and the accumulation of excess weight.
Increased systolic pressure
High upper pressure is a sign of:
- Overactive thyroid gland (thyrotoxicosis);
- Severe anemia;
- Bradycardia (decreased heart rate);
- Aortic valve insufficiency;
- Reduced elasticity and increased density of the vascular wall (for example, atherosclerosis of the aorta).
This condition is called isolated systolic hypertension or systolic hypertension. Upper blood pressure often increases during adolescence. This is due to hormonal changes in the body and is not considered a deviation. With the completion of puberty, the indicators return to normal. True, such changes increase the chances of developing hypertension in adulthood.
Treatment of systolic hypertension is generally similar to those taken for normal hypertension. This also applies to prevention. The main thing is to identify the disease in time, regularly monitor your blood pressure and take medications prescribed by your doctor, including those that help lower blood pressure. In addition, you need a diet, adequate physical activity, and protection from stress.
Reduced upper pressure
Low upper pressure may be associated with lifestyle or illness. In the first case, we are talking about constant overwork and systematic stress, lack of sleep and excessive physical activity. As for pathologies, a decrease in systolic pressure is caused by:
- Thyroid diseases, hormonal imbalances;
- Diabetes;
- Vegetovascular dystonia;
- Arrhythmia;
- Heart failure.
The cause may be prolonged depression. In any case, to normalize the pressure, you need to consult a doctor and identify the factors that contributed to the decrease in pressure. Usually the doctor recommends mainly preventive measures such as strong tea, contrast showers, and healthy sleep. But in some cases, drug treatment is required.
Treatment
Many people know how to treat diastolic blood pressure (high), but low blood pressure is much less common, so people are not aware of how to increase it. This technique consists of several methods of therapy: nonspecific and medicinal. They differ in the method of treatment.
Nonspecific therapy
Such treatment makes it possible to enhance the effect of drug therapy and protect the body from circumstances that provoke low blood pressure. Such recommendations are well suited for healthy people as a preventive measure against low blood pressure.
- Sleep well. The daily sleep requirement is at least 8 hours.
- During work, take short breaks (15 minutes), every 2-3 hours.
- Do morning exercises outside and walk. Every day a person should be in the fresh air for at least 2-3 hours.
- Strengthen vascular walls and train their elasticity using a contrast shower: gradually reducing the water temperature from hot to cold. In this way, both high and low diastolic pressure can be slightly corrected.
- Massage, knead and rub the body, especially the calf muscle tissue, areas of the hands and feet.
- Avoid hot baths, baths, saunas, and exposure to sunlight without a hat or headscarf.
- Cycling, rollerblading, skating, and light jogging more often.
- Drink strong teas and coffee drinks. For low blood pressure, ginger tea is recommended, purchased in a store or prepared independently from ginger root, grated on a fine grater. However, you should not regularly stabilize intravascular parameters using this method, because you can disrupt the natural self-regulatory abilities of the body.
If you devote enough time to the lifestyle described above, but the diastolic values of the tonometer are still low, you will need to resort to drug treatment.
Medicines
This therapy does not tolerate self-prescription. Before purchasing medications, you need to consult with a specialist who will determine the exact causes and indicate the path to treatment of the disease. If you postpone a visit to the doctor, you will have to get rid of not only intravascular abnormalities, but also diseases of the internal organs. The following medications are usually applicable:
- Herbal products: ginseng, eleutherococcus, lemongrass. They create a tonic and stimulating effect on the human body. They have contraindications for use, so medical consultation will be necessary, regardless of the origin of the drugs.
- With reduced tonometer values, combined with asthenia, manifested in the form of apathy and weakness, Pantogam, Paricetam, Phenibut, which belong to the nootropic group, are used. They improve metabolic processes occurring within a person, stimulate the central nervous system and activate energy processes.
- Multivitamins tone the human body, replenish the vitamin balance in the body, as a result of which the patient becomes resilient to nervous and physical stress.
The methods described above are best used in combination: nonspecific therapy together with medication (for serious deviations). If a person only occasionally experiences attacks of hypotension, then preventive measures alone can be used. But you should still consult a doctor to rule out the disease in a latent form.
Controlling blood pressure is the key to the health of the whole body
Blood pressure is a common name for two indicators: systolic (upper) and diastolic (lower). If any of them goes beyond the normal range, as well as an excessively large or very small difference between the indicators, they can be symptoms of various diseases. In order not to miss the onset of pathology and take timely measures, it is necessary to regularly measure blood pressure and consult a doctor if the measurement results do not correspond to the norm.
Diagnostics
To determine whether a person has low diastolic blood pressure, the doctor will use a blood pressure monitor. Diastolic value is below 60 mm Hg. is low. Your doctor may do additional tests to determine the cause of your low blood pressure:
- blood or urine tests
- electrocardiogram to read the electrical signals of the heart to determine the rhythm and any abnormalities
- echocardiogram to show detailed images of the heart
- a stress test in which a person undergoes heart monitoring while exercising
