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Cardiovascular System
Blood Pressure
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Blood pressure is a measurement of how hard your heart has to work to pump blood throughout your body. To determine blood pressure, a health practitioner will measure the force of your blood moving through your arteries during two phases of each heart beat: first, as the blood is initially pumped into the arteries and, second, while the heart relaxes between beats. These two phases represent, respectively, the systolic and diastolic forces. Blood pressure, then, is expressed as the relationship between these two forces: systolic pressure over, or followed by, diastolic pressure.
Moderate pressure is necessary to send blood containing life-sustaining nutrients and oxygen to all the tissues of the body, as well as remove toxic products from these tissues. However, when blood pressure is too high, health problems can occur. Chronically high blood pressure, which is sometimes due to hardened arteries, can cause further damage in artery walls. A person with high blood pressure is said to have hypertension, which eventually can lead to variety of health complications such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, and renal disease.
Maintaining an optimum blood pressure, e.g. between 120-110 systolic and 80-70 diastolic, is crucial for health and well being. However, most of us do not achieve that optimum goal unless we incorporate favorable lifestyle practices.
Avoiding high blood pressure involves an integrative approach: establishing healthy habits such as a nutritious, anti-inflammatory diet and appropriate supplementation, weight management, exercise, and various mind-body techniques for emotional stress management. Quitting smoking and caffeine, and cutting down on alcohol, can help as well. Depending on how high your blood pressure is, possible pharmaceutical treatment may also be needed, as directed by your physician.
© 2010 Heart MD Institute, PA |
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