Helpful Information - Labtron 847 Manual

Helpful Information

What Is Blood Pressure?
Blood pressure is the force that blood exerts on the
arteries. This force is constantly changing as the heart
beats. When the heart contracts, blood pressure reaches
its highest value. This is called systolic blood pressure.
When the heart relaxes between beats, the value of
blood pressure is lower. This is called the diastolic blood
pressure. The unit of measure for blood pressure is the
millimeter of mercury, abbreviated mmHg.
For example, an individual's blood pressure may be mea-
sured as 120 mmHg (systolic) and 80 mmHg (diastolic).
This would be spoken as "120 over 80" and written as
"120/80".
Remember that blood pressure varies throughout the
day. Food intakes, smoking, time of day, stress, level of
exercise and many other factors can affect it.
Typical daily blood pressure fluctuations
(Example : 35-year-old male)
160
100
60
20
12 15 18
Lunch hour Driving home
Office hours Family hours
What is High Blood Pressure?
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a condition where
an individual's blood pressure remains high over a long
period of time. Untreated, hypertension can cause many
serious medical problems including strokes and heart
attacks. To control hypertension, the American Heart
Association recommends that you not smoke, reduce fat
and salt intake, maintain proper weight, exercise and get
regular physical check-ups.
3
21 24 3 6 9
Sexual intercourse Driving to work
Sleeping Surgery hours
systolic
diastolic
Time