Healing of Hypertension
Blood is carried from the heart to all the body’s tissues and organs in vessels, called arteries. Blood pressure is the force of the blood pushing against the walls of those arteries.
Blood pressure is a measure of the pressure inside your blood vessels — both while the heart is beating and while it is relaxed. Naturally, high blood pressure is when the pressure within your blood vessels is too high. This is also known as hypertension. This article provides information on: This information about hypertension can be helpful as you take the next steps toward a healthier future.Blood pressure is the amount of force (pressure) that blood exerts on the walls of the blood vessels as it passes through them. As blood is pumped from your heart into your vessels, enough pressure is created to send it to all other parts of your body.To measure your blood pressure, a fabric cuff is wrapped around your arm and then slightly inflated. The blood pressure shows up on a gauge attached to the cuff.
The healthcare provider reads the numbers from the gauge as air is released from the cuff. This device that reads blood pressure is called a sphygmomanometer. Blood pressure can also be measured with a blood pressure machine. The two numbers that measure your blood pressure are written like a fraction: one number on top and one on the bottom. For example, what many people consider “normal” blood pressure is read as 120/80. The number on top is called the systolic pressure. It measures the pressure inside your blood vessels at the moment your heart beats. The number on the bottom is your diastolic pressure. It measures the pressure in your blood vessels between heartbeats, when your heart is resting.
The goal of treatment for most patients is to lower the systolic blood pressure below 140 mm Hg and the diastolic blood pressure below 90 mm Hg. In some patients, such as those with diabetes, it is recommended that blood pressure be lowered even further, to a systolic pressure below 130 mm Hg and a diastolic pressure below 85 mm Hg.
In hypertension the increased pressure in the blood vessels damages the vessel walls, causing bleedingand blood clot formation. This causes particularly severe problems if blood vessels in the eye, kidney,heart or brain are affected. In addition when blood pressure is high the heart has to pump against a greaterresistance and this places increased strain on the heart muscle.
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