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35094-2. Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term "blood pressure" refers to the pressure in a brachial artery, where it is most commonly measured.
Blood pressure measurement. A medical student checking blood pressure using a sphygmomanometer and stethoscope. Arterial blood pressure is most commonly measured via a sphygmomanometer, which historically used the height of a column of mercury to reflect the circulating pressure. [1] Blood pressure values are generally reported in millimetres ...
t. e. Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. [11] High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms itself. [1] It is, however, a major risk factor for stroke, coronary artery disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, peripheral ...
Essential hypertension (also called primary hypertension, or idiopathic hypertension) is a form of hypertension without an identifiable physiologic cause. [1][2] It is the most common type affecting 85% of those with high blood pressure. [3][4] The remaining 15% is accounted for by various causes of secondary hypertension. [3]
In medicine, the mean arterial pressure (MAP) is an average calculated blood pressure in an individual during a single cardiac cycle. [1] Although methods of estimating MAP vary, a common calculation is to take one-third of the pulse pressure (the difference between the systolic and diastolic pressures), and add that amount to the diastolic ...
For most people, recommendations are to reduce blood pressure to less than or equal to somewhere between 140/90 mmHg and 160/100 mmHg. [2] In general, for people with elevated blood pressure, attempting to achieve lower levels of blood pressure than the recommended 140/90 mmHg will create more harm than benefits, [3] in particular for older people. [4]
Blood pressure is recorded as two readings: a higher systolic pressure, which occurs during the maximal contraction of the heart, and the lower diastolic or resting pressure. [11] In adults, a normal blood pressure is 120/80, with 120 being the systolic and 80 being the diastolic reading. [12] Usually, the blood pressure is read from the left ...
The pathophysiology of hypertension is an area which attempts to explain mechanistically the causes of hypertension, which is a chronic disease characterized by elevation of blood pressure. Hypertension can be classified by cause as either essential (also known as primary or idiopathic) or secondary. About 90–95% of hypertension is essential ...