Blood Pressure Resource

Help for blood pressure - What is a Blood Pressure Cuff?

acube — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:00:25 +0000

A blood pressure cuff is a cuff that is wrapped around your arm while your blood pressure is being taken. Having your blood pressure taken determines if your blood pressure is high or low. If your blood pressure is too high, this could cause you to have serious health problems. Consult with your doctor to find out what your blood pressure is and how you can lower or raise it.

Who uses a blood pressure cuff on you? Usually it is a doctor or a nurse that takes your blood pressure and uses the cuff. However, your blood pressure can also be taken electronically by a machine. The nurse would strap the cuff around your arm and the machine would proceed to take your blood pressure.

Why does the nurse look at her watch while she takes my blood pressure? The nurse watches her watch while she is counting your heart beats. The timing with her watch is relevant to the nurse getting the correct blood pressure from you.

Why does the blood pressure cuff sometimes hurt my arm? When the blood pressure cuff is filling full of air, it will squeeze your arm and sometimes this will be painful. However, the pain is always over once the air has been released from the cuff, so bearing with the pain for just a few seconds will not hurt you or your arm. You will just feel some discomfort for a short time until it is over.

Do blood pressure cuffs come in different sizes? Yes blood pressure cuffs do come in different sizes. There is a child size cuff, an adult size cuff, and a larger adult size cuff. Using the correct size cuff will ensure an accurate blood pressure reading.

Having your blood pressure taken on a regular basis is very important. You should make sure that your blood pressure is read each time you go to the doctor. The doctor or nurse can tell you if your blood pressure was high or not, and what you can do to get your blood pressure back to normal.

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Joane realizes the importance of health monitors as she has been a diabetic and has suffered from heart disease for most of her life. She has used various displays over the years and compares the essential features of both devices at www.healthdisplays.com , as well as other monitors such as heart rate monitors .

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Why High Blood Pressure Can Be So Dangerous (Blood pressure help)

acube — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:00:20 +0000

We all know that high blood pressure is considered serious by the doctor. But not many of us know why. The truth of the matter is this: high blood pressure, left unchecked, can have serious consequences. The dangers can range from vision problems to ulcers to an outright stroke.

The higher your blood pressure, the higher your risk of heart disease and stroke. Someone with blood pressure of 120/80 mmHg is at greater risk than someone with blood pressure of 110/70 mmHg. It’s as simple as that. How does this impact your heart? When the heart is forced to overwork for an extended period of time, it tends to enlarge. A slightly enlarged heart can function well, but a significantly enlarged heart cannot.

In fact, high blood pressure is the number one risk factor for congestive heart failure, a serious condition in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood to supply the body’s needs. The result of the heart’s inability to pump enough blood can be kidney damage or even a stroke.

In relation to the kidneys, if left unchecked, high blood pressure can narrow and then thicken the blood vessels feeding the kidneys. The primary function of the kidneys is to serve as a filter for the body and to dispose of its waste. When denied enough blood to function properly, the kidneys begin to filter less fluid, and the excess waste begins to build in the blood stream. Eventually, if nothing is done, the kidneys can fail altogether, requiring dialysis to do the job for them.

As for strokes, high blood pressure is a leading risk factor here as well. When a blood clot blocks one of the narrowed arteries, stroke can easily be the end result. And when if blood pressure becomes so high that it causes a break in one of the weakened blood vessels, which then bleeds into the brain, stroke is nearly unavoidable.

A few more dangerous effects of high blood pressure you should note …

1. Damage to cerebral tissues, resulting in convulsions, ataxia or impaired speech. Even brain death may occur in those patients with severe high blood pressure.

2. Ulcers may develop in the gastro-intestinal system. These occur most often in prolonged cases of hypertension.

3. Depression, though not directly related to high blood pressure, is often one of the consequences when hypertension begins to affect the body’s organs and the health issues become more complicated.

In summary: high blood pressure is dangerous because it requires your heart to work laboriously. That, in turn, can harden the walls of the arteries, which raises the risk for heart disease and stroke, the first-and-third leading causes of death for Americans. While high blood pressure can appear harmless at first glance, a closer look quickly uncovers the potential for a variety of problems, including heart failure, kidney disease, and blindness.

Every time you visit your doctor, no matter what the visit is for, make sure you have your blood pressure checked. And if you have any suspicions that your blood might be on the high side, visit your doctor immediately. Your health is worth the extra caution.

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David Silva is the webmaster for Blood Pressure Insights, a website dedicated to understanding high blood pressure, its impact on your health, and its treatment.

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How to Choose the Right Blood Pressure Machine For You (Blood pressure info news)

acube — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:00:16 +0000

If you are looking to purchase a blood pressure machine, how do you know which one is the right one for you? There are a few things that you should look for when you are shopping for a machine to take your blood pressure.

1. Accuracy
Finding a blood pressure machine that is accurate is important. After all, what is the purpose of monitoring your blood pressure, only to get inaccurate readings? That would be just as good as guessing yourself at what your blood pressure reading is. Testing the machine that you are looking to buy against someone who can manually take your blood pressure is a great idea. This way you can compare readings, and be sure that you choose the machine that is the most accurate at reading your blood pressure.

2. Comfortable cuff
A comfortable cuff is a very important factor when you are looking for a blood pressure machine. If you need a larger cuff, be sure that the standard size cuff can be replaced, and that a larger cuff can be accommodated with your machine. Using the wrong size cuff when you are monitoring your blood pressure will also lead to inaccurate readings, so make sure that if you outgrow a regular size cuff, that you replace it with a larger one. This will ensure that you are comfortable as well have accurate readings.

3. Affordable
Choosing a blood pressure machine that you can afford is important. While there are many different price ranges out there to choose from, know how much money you have available to spend on your machine, and buy the best machine that you can afford. Of course a higher priced machine may mean more accurate readings, but buying the best one you can afford will make you feel better about monitoring your blood pressure.

4. Easy to use
Be sure that you get a blood pressure machine that is easy to use. If you will be operating the machine yourself, you want to be able to use it. Of course, most of these machines do not take a rocket scientist to figure out, you will want the place that sells it to you to explain the way you use the machine so when you get it home, you will be able to get the most out of it, without getting aggravated.

Blood pressure machines are great to have around if you are prone to high or low blood pressure. These machines will help you to keep track and monitor your blood pressure so that you can be in the best health possible.

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All About Blood Pressure Monitors (Blood pressure info)

acube — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 21:00:04 +0000

What are blood pressure monitors? A monitor, that monitors your blood pressure. This device will take your blood pressure as often as it is set for, and record the reading that it gets each time. This monitor will help doctors and nurses know if your blood pressure is too high or even too low.

When are blood pressure monitors used? Most of the time the blood pressure monitors are used when you are in the hospital. If you are undergoing some type of procedure in the hospital, many times the nurse will strap a monitor cuff to your arm, so that your blood pressure can be recorded and monitored while they are performing a procedure on you.

Does someone have to manually use a blood pressure monitor on me? A blood pressure monitor can be used manually used by a doctor or a nurse to take an accurate reading of your blood pressure. However, someone manually using the machine is not necessary. The machine will take your blood pressure at pre set times, so that it can be monitored without any one manually operating it.

Can a blood pressure monitor be used in the home? Yes, you can have a blood pressure machine installed in your home. This way you can have your blood pressure monitored, without ever leaving the house. Sometimes this monitor will be used on someone who is bed ridden, and does not have to worry about getting up and becoming unattached to the machine.

Are blood pressure monitors accurate? Most of the time, if the cuff is placed on the arm correctly, the blood pressure machine will monitor your blood pressure accurately. Making sure that the cuff is placed on the arm in the correct spot, and that it is snug enough that it does not move and slide down your arm, will help ensure an accurate reading.

While blood pressure monitors can be used without someone manually taking your blood pressure, this is a great device for when there is no one around that knows exactly how to do this. Making sure the cuff is on correctly is the key to an accurate reading, and will help ensure that you are having your blood pressure taken correct.

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High blood pressure - How Does High Blood Pressure Cause Heart Attack

acube — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 15:00:11 +0000

Heart attack is called as Myocardial Infarction in medical terminology. Heart is supplied by right and left coronary arteries. Whenever these arteries are blocked, blood supply to heart stops and wall of heart damages, result is Heart Attack with symptoms of severe constricting chest pain radiating to left arm jaw or shoulder, profuse sweating, vomiting, and feeling of anxiety. If the blood supply is cut off for more than a few minutes, muscle cells suffer permanent injury and die. This can kill or disable someone, depending on how much heart muscle is damaged.

There are 4 major risk factors which are responsible for this heart attack. What are those? Hypertension also called as High Blood Pressure, Hypercholesterolemia, Diabetes, and Smoking. In this article our main focus is High Blood Pressure. How does High blood pressure play role in causing Heart Attack. Remember, whenever coronary blood supply will be decreased or blocked, heart attack will take place. Arteries can be blocked by two different ways. Atherosclerosis and second cause is Artery spasm. Now lets discuss process of Atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is a type of arteriosclerosis. The name comes from the Greek words athero (meaning gruel or paste) and sclerosis (hardness). It is a process of formation of plaque inside the wall of blood vessel. Plaque is collection of fatty substances, cholesterol, cellular waste products, calcium and fibrin (a clotting material in the blood). When person gets old, process of atherosclerosis starts. Thickening of blood vessels is called atherosclerosis. So far we have just talked about thickening of vessels. How vessels get block.

Now what next, plaque can undergo following changes. Either bleeding (hemorrhage) into the plaque , blood enters into wall of blood vessel, thus it gets more thickened and block the vessel or plaque gets damage and platelet(Cells which helps in clotting process) comes and aggregate on the plaque where it damages. Thus causing more narrowing of vessel. We were talking about blood pressure causing atherosclerosis. Yes, it is main risk factor. Actually it is high blood pressure which causes injury to these plaques, so after injury to these plaques, platelet comes to injured areas and further narrow the blood vessels.Because of the damage, over time fats, cholesterol, platelets, cellular debris and calcium are also deposited in the artery wall. These substances may stimulate the cells of the artery wall to produce still other substances like smooth muscles. This results in more cells accumulating in the innermost layer of the artery wall where the atherosclerotic lesions form. These cells accumulate, and many of them divide. At the same time, fat builds up within and around these cells. They also form connective tissue.

Atherosclerosis affects large and medium sized arteries. The type of artery and where the plaque develops varies with each person.Atherosclerosis is a slow, progressive disease that may start in children as well. In some people this disease progresses rapidly in their third decade. In others it doesn’t become threatening until they’re in their 50s or 60s.

If atherosclerosis takes place in heart vessels . oxygen supply to the heart muscles decreases, resulting in heart wall damage, called as Heart Attack.

Second cause of decreased blood supply is artery spasm. Sometimes a coronary artery temporarily contracts or goes into spasm. When this happens the artery narrows and blood flow to the heart muscle decreases or stops. A spasm can occur in normal-appearing blood vessels as well as in vessels partly blocked by atherosclerosis. A severe spasm can cause a heart attack.

So always keep your blood pressure under controlled limits, otherwise you can be a victim of Heart Attack.

If you want to know more about High Blood Pressure and Heart Attack , visit our site highbloodpressuremed.com

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Dr. Armughan, working on High Blood Pressure Symptoms Causes Diet Treatment

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