XXVII.
Important information’s about
blood pressure.
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 known 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
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