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General Blood Pressure
Information
What
is
Blood Pressure?
Blood pressure
is
the
pressure
that
is
exerted by blood
flowing
against the
walls
of
the
blood vessels throughout your
body.
Your
heart,
which
is
the center
of
the
circulatory
system, provides
the force
for
the blood
to
flow or
circulate.
When
your
heart contracts
or beats,
the blood
is
forced
through
the
blood vessels
increasing the pressure. This
is
the highest
pressure
in
the cycle or
what
is
referred
to
as
SYSTOLIC
BLOOD
PRESSURE.
In
between
beats,
your
heart relaxes
and
your blood pressure decreases.
This
is
referred
to
as
DIASTOLIC
BLOOD
PRESSURE.
This
complete
series
of
events
which occurs
in
a
single
heartbeat
is
known
as
the
CARDIAC
CYCLE.
Your
Mabis
Automatic Monitor
will
automatically
read your blood pressure
and
display both
systolic
and
diastolic
readings
on
the screen.
Your
systolic
will
be
positioned
as
the
upper
number and
the
diastolic
reading
will
be
the
lower
number.
Blood pressure
is
measured
in
millimeters
(mm)
of
Mercury
(Hg)
and
is
general-
ly
recorded
with the
systolic
pressure
(120)
listed
first
and
the
diastolic
pressure
(80)
listed
second.
The numbers
are
typically
separated by
a
slash
mark
(/
)
as
shown
above.
Both pressure
readings, the
SYSTOLIC
and
the
DIASTOLIC,
are
necessary
for
a physician
to
evaluate
the status of
a
patient's
blood
pressure.
Please
contact
your
physician
for
specific
information regarding
your
own
blood
pressure.
(systolic)
(diastolic)
4
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