The long lasting medical heart condition in which normal arterial blood pressure is increased is called high blood pressure or hypertension. It’s antagonistic to hypotension and it is further classified into two classes which are primary hypertension and secondary hypertension. In a population about 905 cases are of primary hypertension in which there is no specific medical cause behind the occurrence of hypertension while 5-105 cases are of secondary hypertension in which the main cause of hypertension is disorders of kidneys, arteries, heart or endocrine system.

High blood pressure lasting for a long time can be a reason of stroke, myocardial infarction, heart failure, arterial aneurysm and even chronic kidney failure. Even moderate type of hypertension can reduce life expectancy in the patient and changes in diet and life style can help a lot in controlling the high blood pressure along with decrease in the risk of health problems but there are some patients in which high blood pressure can only be treated by using certain medications.

Classification:
High systolic or diastolic blood pressure then normal blood pressure is classified as high blood pressure or hypertension. There are different stages of hypertension which are as follow:
Hypertension stage l
Hypertension stage II

Isolated hypertension
The last stage represents the high systolic blood pressure and it is evident in elders mostly. These three stages of high blood pressure are made on the basis of ranges of blood pressure in the patient. In people more then 50 years of age the range of high blood pressure starts from 140 mmHg systolic and 90 mmHg diastolic blood pressure.
Exercise hypertension is the type of hypertension which is only experienced during exercise. The normal range of systolic blood pressure is 200 – 300 mmHg.

 

The pressure exerted by the blood moving in the veins of the circulatory system is called blood pressure and is very important sign of living. Whenever a heart beats the blood pressure fluctuates between maximum and minimum pressure. The maximum blood pressure is called systolic pressure while minimum pressure is known as diastolic pressure. The real blood pressure of the person gets lowered as it moves away from the heart and when the resistance in the blood vessels gets reduced. As the blood moves away from the heart into the arteries and arterioles the blood pressure starts getting reduced and it becomes least when it reaches the blood capillaries and then return back to heart through the veins. When the blood reaches the heart back at that time the blood pressure is least. Some factors which can affect the blood pressure at different points are gravity, vein’s valve and contraction and relaxation of the skeletal muscles.

The true blood pressure is measured at the brachial artery present on the inner side of the elbow and blood pressure is measured at the upper arm of any person. Brachial artery is the major blood carrying artery in the arm and it is quite easy to measure the blood pressure at this point. The units in which blood pressure is measured are mmHg which is obtained by the ratio of systolic pressure to diastolic pressure.

Ø      Normal blood pressure:

Blood pressure is different in different people as it changes in a single person variously at different times and from this it is quite evident that it will be obviously different in different people. But when the blood pressure of 100 people who have no past history of hypertension was studied it was found 112/64 which was then started considering the normal blood pressure.

There are many factors which affect this normal value of blood pressure and cause variations in it. The main factors are age and gender as the value of normal blood pressure is lower than adults in children and height also induces variations in the normal value. With the increment of age the systolic pressure rises while diastolic pressure falls. In the elderly age the veins become rigid and less flexible due to which the blood pressure increases more. Exercise, emotions, sleep schedule, digestion and daily routine also affects the normal value of blood pressure.

115/75mmHg is the blood pressure at which the risk of cardiovascular diseases is elevated. The people who have least values of the blood pressure range are more exposed to better cardiovascular health. The blood pressure is more than the normal blood pressure value in older people due to morbidity and mortality.

Ø      Pathophysiology:

There are many physical stimuli which influence the arterial pressure and in turn the blood pressure. Some physiological factors are:

  • Diet
  • Exercise
  • Disease
  • Drug or alcohol
  • Stress
  • Obesity

Ø      Measurement:

Blood pressure is generally measured by sphygmomanometer which consists of a column of mercury and the height of the mercury column shows the blood pressure. Beside sphygmomanometer other blood pressure meters which measure blood pressure don’t have mercury in them like aneroid and electronic devices.

© 2011 Blood Pressurey