IBP HL 168 V 92, Manual

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what is blood pressure?
Blood pressure is a measurement of the force of blood flowing against the walls of the arteries. Arterial
blood pressure is constantly changing during the course of the cardiac cycle. The highest pressure in
the cycle is called the systolic blood pressure, the lowest is the diastolic blood pressure. Both pressure
readings, the systolic and the diastolic are necessary to enable a physician to evaluate the status of a
patient’s blood pressure. Many factors such as physical activity, anxiety or the time of day, can
influence your blood pressure. Blood pressure is typically low in the morning and increases from the
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?
Having one’s blood pressure measured by a doctor in a hospital or a clinic, and a group health checks,
tend to stimulate nervousness in the subject and may even create high blood pressure. Also varies
blood pressure in accordance with a variety of conditions and so judgment is not possible on the basis
of a single measurement.
The blood pressure measured first thing in the morning after getting up, before taking any food and
with the subject still, is know as the fundamental blood pressure. In practice it is rather difficult to
record the fundamental blood pressure, but to come as near as possible to measuring the blood
pressure in an environment that is close to this, is why it is useful to take the measurement at home.
3 about blood pressure
HL 168 V92 English 14.04.2003 7:52 Uhr Seite 4