Taking Blood Pressure Readings: Understanding the Vital Signs

A woman’s blood pressure is one of her most reliable clues in determining if her cardiovascular system is in good condition. Blood pressure is monitored with the aid of an instrument called sphygmomanometer, which measures the pressure or force per unit area exerted by circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels. It is worthy to note that the pressure of the circulating blood increases as it moves toward the heart through the veins and decreases as it moves away from the heart through the arteries and capillaries.

Depending on a person’s age, size, and gender, blood pressure may vary from person to person. In the same token, it would be difficult to hold a single value as the standard for all who may fit in that category. For example, it will be hard to say that two individuals will have the same blood pressure simply because they are of the same age and gender without taking into consideration their body mass.

Taking One’s Blood Pressure

When a woman has her blood pressure taken, there are two figures that will be given to her to indicate her blood pressure:

1) The first figure tells about her systolic pressure, which is also known as the peak pressure. It represents the pressure that the heart exerts in pumping blood to the veins.

2) On the other hand, the figure below the systolic pressure is known as the diastolic pressure. It is also known as the resting pressure and indicates the lowest pressure that the heart exerts in between beats.
   
For a woman, it is always important to have her blood pressure checked at least twice a year. This will be needed in order to determine her “normal” blood pressure and detect possible changes in it due to diet or lifestyle changes. In case of pregnancy, having blood pressure checked should be done in a regular basis in order to assure that the pregnancy is going on smoothly without any risk to the woman or to her baby.

Reading One’s Blood Pressure
   
Once blood pressure is taken, doctors can now tell if a woman is suffering from hypertension or from hypotension. Either way, each of these cases signify an unhealthy condition which can be dangerous to a woman’s health.
   
1) Hypertension: higher blood pressure tends to overwork the heart, causing the heart muscles to thicken and weaken in time. Moreover, it may also encourage the growth of unhealthy tissues in the walls of the arteries.

2) Hypertension can cause stroke, heart failures, heart attacks, arterial aneurysms, and chronic renal failure.

3) Hypotension: the opposite of hypertension is hypotension. This happens when the blood pressure is too low that the brain suffers from a critically low level of blood supplied to it.

4) As a result, a woman experiences lightheadedness, weakness, dizziness, and fainting. In some cases, hypotension is due to one’s posture: for example, a patient may experience the condition when standing up after a long while sitting down. When this happens, a patient may also suffer from weakness and may faint.