Blood pressure gone hypertensive
Quick refresher: the basics of our circulatory system
Our circulatory system consists of several components that act in harmony to transport nutrients and oxygen to our tissues and remove waste products. Let’s quickly review the key components.
Blood
A fluid made up of
blood cells and
plasma that circulates throughout the body. Blood caries a variety of substances (oxygen and waste products) that are transported between various organs and tissues.
Heart
Muscular organ that pumps
oxygen poor (deoxygenated) blood into the lungs and pumps the newly oxygenated blood out to the body.
Vessels
Vessels are arteries and veins and can be thought of as the “tubing” which carries blood throughout our bodies. For the most part, arteries are the blood vessels that carry oxygen rich blood to our organs and tissues.
Veins carry the oxygen poor blood back to the heart.
Lungs
Responsible for the
oxygenation of our blood.
What is Blood Pressure?
Blood pressure refers to the pressure blood exerts against the walls of the main arteries in our bodies. The
systolic pressure is the pressure in the vessels when the heart is pumping. The
diastolic pressure is the pressure of the blood between heartbeats (when the heart is at rest). When you see or are told of a blood pressure of 120/80 or 120 over 80…the systolic pressure is120 and the diastolic pressure is 80.
What defines hypertension?
Hypertension is defined as an average systolic blood pressure of 140 mm Hg (millimeters of mercury) or higher and/or an average diastolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg or higher. It is important to point out that
blood pressure readings can be different at varying times of the day and can be elevated with stress or anxiety. Therefore, the determination of a person being labeled as “
hypertensive” is usually based on the average of three blood pressure readings taken on different days.
Hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus
Controlling
blood pressure is extremely important in
diabetic patients with
hypertension. Properly controlling blood pressure helps to prevent damage to the kidneys and can help to control the development of
diabetic nephropathy (diabetes related kidney disease). The goal for diabetic patients with hypertension is to keep the blood pressure below 130/85 mm Hg. A combination of anti-hypertensive medications and lifestyle changes (especially weight loss) should be used to reach this blood pressure goal.
Hypertension associated with birth control pills
Many women taking birth control pills experience a small increase in
blood pressure, but the pressure usually remains in the normal range.
Hypertension has been reported to be 2-3 times more common in women taking birth control pills and is most evident in obese and older women. Women over
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