Our blood pressure is continually changing and it is very rare for a person to have a blood pressure reading which is constant. Almost everything we do will have an affect on our blood pressure which will move up and down as we go about our normal day to day business. Simple things such as sitting, walking, watching television, standing up, drinking, walking the dog, eating and nearly anything else you can think of can alter your blood pressure level.
While changes in blood pressure are nothing more than a simple fact of life it can nevertheless create problems for doctors who need to be able to use blood pressure to monitor your general health. The problem is thus to attempt to establish a blood pressure level which we can consider to be a normal average and then to establish limits above and below this value which can also be considered as representing the normal range of blood pressure change. The starting point here is to examine the pressure in the arteries of the body as the heart is pumping freshly oxygenated blood to the various organs of the body.
The blood carries a mixture of nutrients and oxygen to all parts of the body through a series of blood vessels starting with the main aorta carrying blood from the heart and ending in a mass of tiny capillaries.
The first thing which must be considered therefore is just how much pressure is required in the aorta as the blood leaves the heart if it is going to reach its destination in distant areas of the body.
Next, the second thing which must be considered is how much pressure is required in the capillaries in order to transfer oxygen and nutrients into the body's tissues.
Long and careful study over many years shows that the best arterial pressure to deliver blood to all parts of the body and to facilitate the transfer of oxygen and nutrients into the body's tissues is 120 mm Hg. This value represents the normal blood pressure when the heart pumps blood around the body and is usually known as your systolic pressure.
As with most things in life though a pressure slightly below or above this level is not going to make a lot of difference and the body will continue to function quite normally. But, when the blood pressure drops too low or gets too high then you are going to start to run into trouble.
So exactly what are the upper and lower limits within which the average individual should be able to continue operating normally?
Here things become a little blurred and the answer varies from person to person. Nevertheless in general the upper limit for blood pressure in the majority of individuals will be approximately 140 mg Hg and the lower limit will be approximately 90 mg Hg.
Possibly the most important point at which to start however is to establish the level which is right for you and which takes into account such things as your age and general health together with your lifestyle. Having agreed this figure with your physician it is then merely a matter of keeping a regular eye on you blood pressure.
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