1. Blood Pressure
Fit and Healthy

2. What is Blood Pressure?
It is the pressure of the blood flowing through your blood vessels on the walls of the vessels

3. Biggest
Arteriole
Artery
Capillary
Vein
Venule
Smallest

4. The pressure of the circulating blood decreases as blood moves through arteries, arterioles(little arteries), capillaries and veins
The term blood pressure generally refers to arterial pressure - the pressure in the larger arteries

5. A sphygmomanometer

6. Systolic Pressure This is the higher figure
It is the pressure exerted on the walls of the artery when the heart is contracting to force blood out
It should be about 120mmHg

7. Diastolic Pressure This is the lower figure
This is the pressure when the heart is relaxing to allow blood to flow back in.
This should be about 80

9. Hypertension One in three people has high blood pressure
BP of more than 140 over 90.
It can be treated but often people do not know they have it.
It can cause weak blood vessels to burst – if this happens in the brain it causes a stroke
It can also damage organs like the kidney which contain a lot of tiny blood vessels

10. Here is how high blood pressure can be diagnosed

11. Low blood pressure This can cause poor blood circulation
This may lead to dizziness and fainting as the brain does not get enough oxygenated blood