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high and low Blood Pressure
Effects of high and low Blood Pressure on your body
 Blood
pressure indicates the force exerted by the blood against
the blood vessel walls. Blood
pressure is generated by the heart pumping blood
into the arteries and is regulated by the response by the arteries
to the flow of blood. The blood pressure of an individual is
expressed in two ways - systolic and diastolic blood
pressure. For instance if the blood pressure
reading is shown as 120 / 80, then the systolic blood
pressure (the top number) represents the pressure in
the arteries as the muscle of the heart contracts and pumps
blood into them and the diastolic blood pressure
(the bottom number) represents the pressure in the arteries
as the muscle of the heart relaxes after it contracts.
Blood pressure always is higher
when the heart is pumping than when it is relaxing. Blood
pressure represents one of the principal vital signs
of life, which include heart beat, rate of breathing, and temperature.
It is seen that the systolic blood pressure
for most healthy adults ranges between 90 and 120 millimeters
of mm Hg and the diastolic blood pressure falls
between 60 and 80 mm Hg. Blood pressures reading
over 130/80 are considered as high blood pressure.. High
blood pressure increases the risk of developing
cardiac problems, kidney disorders, hardening of arteries, eyesight
problems, paralytic stroke etc. Low blood pressure, known as
hypotension, is due to the low flow of blood through the arteries
and veins. When the flow of blood is too low and fails to deliver
enough oxygen and nutrients to vital organs such as the brain,
heart, and kidney, the organs are not able to function normally
and get permanently damaged.
It is to be noted that unlike high
blood pressure, low blood pressure
is diagnosed primarily by signs and symptoms of low blood flow
and not by any specific blood pressure number. Some individuals
may have a blood pressure of 90/50 with no
symptoms of low blood pressure and therefore
can be considered as not having low blood pressure.
But strangely those who normally have high blood pressure
may develop symptoms of low blood pressure if their blood pressure
drops to 100/60.
 High
blood pressure, which is also known as hypertension,
causes the heart to overwork to force blood through the circulatory
system. Over time, this excess strain can severely damage the
heart's muscle and tissue. It can also lead to hardening of
the arteries called in medical circles as atherosclerosis. Persons
suffering from high blood pressure run a higher
risk of a heart attack or stroke. Furthermore, high
blood pressure can lead to kidney disease, severe eye
damage including loss of vision.
As per recent estimates, nearly one in three
U.S. adults has high blood pressure, but because they do not
experience any symptoms, most of them do not know they suffer
from high blood pressure. As a matter of fact,
many people have high blood pressure for years
without knowing it. This is why high blood pressure
is often described as the "silent killer." The only
way to know if you have high blood pressure is to have your
blood pressure checked.
It is said that in the United States, almost
70 percent of people above the age of 65 have high blood
pressure. High blood pressure is also
common among people of all ages who are overweight. A number
of risk factors are said to contribute to high blood
pressure, although the exact reasons are still somewhat
unknown. People who have no physical activity and eat poor and
irregular diets are more prone to high blood pressure.
High blood pressure can often be controlled
with drugs but lifestyle changes are the best prescription for
long term remedy.
What do my kidneys do?
 Your
kidneys are bean-shaped organs, each about the size of your
fist. They are located near the middle of your back, just below
the rib cage. The kidneys are sophisticated reprocessing machines.
Every day, your kidneys process about 200 quarts of blood to
sift out about 2 quarts of waste products and extra water. The
waste and extra water become urine, which flows to your bladder
through tubes called ureters. Your bladder stores urine until
you go to the bathroom.
The wastes in your blood come from the normal
breakdown of active tissues and from the food you eat. Your
body uses the food for energy and self-repair. After your body
has taken what it needs from the food, waste is sent to the
blood. If your kidneys did not remove these wastes, the wastes
would build up in the blood and damage your body.
The actual filtering occurs in tiny units inside
your kidneys called nephrons. Every kidney
has about a million nephrons. In the nephron, a glomerulus—which
is a tiny blood vessel, or capillary—intertwines with a tiny
urine-collecting tube called a tubule. A complicated chemical
exchange takes place, as waste materials and water leave your
blood and enter your urinary system.
At first, the tubules receive a combination
of waste materials and chemicals that your body can still use.
Your kidneys measure out chemicals like sodium, phosphorus,
and potassium and release them back to the blood to return to
the body. In this way, your kidneys regulate
the body’s level of these substances. The right balance is necessary
for life, but excess levels can be harmful.
In addition to removing wastes, your kidneys
release three important hormones:
- erythropoietin (eh-RITH-ro-POY-eh-tin), or EPO, which
stimulates the bone marrow to make red blood cells
- renin (REE-nin), which regulates blood pressure
- calcitriol (kal-suh-TRY-ul), the active form of vitamin
D, which helps maintain calcium for bones and for normal
chemical balance in the body
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