Blood pressure readings are a vital piece of medical information and are one of the first things a physician will look at when examining a patient. Updated blood pressure ranges were established by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in 2003, with guidelines for what defines high blood pressure. Low blood pressure ranges are not as easily pinpointed, since what may be low for one individual can be considered normal for another.
Potential
Blood pressure is the measurement of the force that blood exerts as it pushes its way through a person's system and against the walls of the arteries. Readings that fall within severely low blood pressure ranges are a serious problem, as the heart is having a hard time pumping blood everywhere in the body--it can lead to brain damage and heart disease. Even moderately low blood pressure can result in dizzy spells and fainting. High blood pressure has the potential to cause strokes, heart attacks and aneurysms, as it makes the arteries thicken and become harder.
Identification
Blood pressure ranges are measured in millimeters of mercury. A device called a sphygmomanometer is an inflatable cuff that goes on a person's arm as they are being examined. It has a gauge that can read pressure attached to it. The cuff is blown up, and as it is inflated it will temporarily stop the flow of blood to an artery. As the air is let out, the person administering the examination will listen with a stethoscope for the sound of blood flowing back through the artery. The gauge will measure the pressure when this happens; this number is known as the systolic pressure, or the blood pressure when the heart is actually beating. The last sound that the stethoscope picks up triggers another measurement---the diastolic pressure or the pressure between heart beats.
Significance
The normal blood pressure of the average person is 120/80. Low blood pressure is defined as having numbers that range below 90 as the top number, or systolic reading, or below 60 for the lower figure, which is the diastolic number. Just one of these numbers needs to be below normal levels for your blood pressure to fall into what is considered the low blood pressure range. However, since low blood pressure ranges are hard to define from one individual to the next, doctors often look for symptoms to manifest themselves before deciding if a person has low blood pressure. Sudden drops in blood pressure are always ominous and can lead to fainting from not getting enough blood to the brain.
Considerations
High blood pressure, on the other hand, comes with no symptoms, making it very important that people have their blood pressure checked on a regular basis. As the numbers on the mercury measurements go up, the risk of heart disease and stroke gets higher as well. When the systolic number is within the 120 to 139 range, or the diastolic reading is between 80 and 89, a person is said to suffer from prehypertension. This means that they are only slightly higher than a normal reading, but it also means that the person is likely to develop high blood pressure if the conditions causing these readings are left untreated.
Types
Blood pressure that ranges from 140 to 159 on the systolic reading or between 90 and 99 on the diastolic indicates Stage 1 high blood pressure. Stage 2 is evidenced by systolic blood pressure ranges higher then 160 and a diastolic reading that exceeds 100. These numbers can be very alarming, especially Stage 2 high blood pressure readings, as there is a possibility for many severe consequences, such as blood vessels bursting, blocked blood vessels and heart failure as the heart muscle thickens from pumping so hard. Various medications are used to attempt to lower high blood pressure and bring it down into an acceptable range.
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