Blood Pressure Measurement
What is blood pressure?
Blood pressure is the pressure or the force of blood flowing against the walls of the arteries. Blood pressure is constantly changing during the course of the cardiac cycle. Systolic blood pressure is the highest pressure in the cycle. Diastolic blood pressure is the lowest pressure in the cycle. Both pressure readings, the systolic rate and the diastolic rate, are information for the physician to evaluate the status of patients blood pressure. Many factors such as physical activities, anxieties, time of day, can influence one’s blood pressure. Blood pressure is typically low in the morning and increases from afternoon to the evening. It is lower in the summer and higher in the winter.
Why is it useful to measure blood pressure at home?
Because having one’s blood pressure measured by a doctor in a hospital, or clinic tends to stimulate nervousness in a person and may cause the blood pressure to rise. Also, blood pressure changes in different conditions, so judgement on the basis of single measurement is not reliable. The blood pressure measured first thing in the morning after getting up, before taking any food is known as the fundamental blood pressure. So it is useful to take blood pressure at home.
New WHO blood pressure classifications
Standards for assessing high or low blood pressure without regard to age have been established by the World Health Organization (WHO) as shown in the chart.
Variations in the blood pressure
Individual blood pressure vary greatly on a daily and seasonal basis. These variations are even more pronounced in hypertension patients. Normally the blood pressure rises while at work and is at its lowest during sleep. (Hypertension means a person who has high blood pressure symptom).
The graph below illustrated the variations in blood pressure over a whole day with measurement taken every five minutes. The thick line represents sleep. The rise in blood pressure at 4 PM (A in the graph) and 12 PM (B in the graph) correspond to an attack of pain.
How to use blood measurement?
Blood pressure is the pressure or the force of blood flowing against the walls of the arteries. Blood pressure is constantly changing during the course of the cardiac cycle. Systolic blood pressure is the highest pressure in the cycle. Diastolic blood pressure is the lowest pressure in the cycle. Both pressure readings, the systolic rate and the diastolic rate, are information for the physician to evaluate the status of patients blood pressure. Many factors such as physical activities, anxieties, time of day, can influence one’s blood pressure. Blood pressure is typically low in the morning and increases from afternoon to the evening. It is lower in the summer and higher in the winter.
Why is it useful to measure blood pressure at home?
Because having one’s blood pressure measured by a doctor in a hospital, or clinic tends to stimulate nervousness in a person and may cause the blood pressure to rise. Also, blood pressure changes in different conditions, so judgement on the basis of single measurement is not reliable. The blood pressure measured first thing in the morning after getting up, before taking any food is known as the fundamental blood pressure. So it is useful to take blood pressure at home.
New WHO blood pressure classifications
Standards for assessing high or low blood pressure without regard to age have been established by the World Health Organization (WHO) as shown in the chart.
Variations in the blood pressure
Individual blood pressure vary greatly on a daily and seasonal basis. These variations are even more pronounced in hypertension patients. Normally the blood pressure rises while at work and is at its lowest during sleep. (Hypertension means a person who has high blood pressure symptom).
The graph below illustrated the variations in blood pressure over a whole day with measurement taken every five minutes. The thick line represents sleep. The rise in blood pressure at 4 PM (A in the graph) and 12 PM (B in the graph) correspond to an attack of pain.
How to use blood measurement?
- Blood pressure measurements should be interpreted by a physician or trained health professional who is familiar with one’s medical history. By using the unit regularly and recording the results for the physician to interpret, one can keep physician informed of the continuing trends in one’s blood pressure.
- Wrap the cuff snugly around your arm, the cuff must be at the same level as your heart.
- Do not move the unit during measurement, or accurate measurement can not be achieved.
- Take measurement in a relaxed position without talking.
- Do not wrap the cuff over jacket/sweater sleeve, or measurement cannot be done.
- Keep in mind that blood pressure naturally varies from time through out the day and is affected by lots of different factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, medication, and physical activities.
- Blood pressure measurement determined by the unit are equivalent to those obtained by a trained observer using the cuff/stethoscope auscultation method, and is within the limits prescribed by the American National Standard for Electronic or Automated Sphygmomanometers.
