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What Is Systolic and Diastolic | What Are the Dangers
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These days, blood pressure is a common problem. To define blood pressure, it can
be said that it is the pressure exerted on the walls of the arteries by blood. Two numbers are
given to you when you check your blood pressure. The two numbers indicate the systolic and
diastolic pressures, where systolic makes the upper reading and diastolic makes the lower
reading.
When heart contracts, the magnitude of the force generated is shown by the systolic reading. On the
other hand, when the heart relaxes, the force generated in the blood vessels is indicated by the
diastolic reading. Based on these two, a healthy or normal range for blood pressure would be
120/80. Any reading higher than this is considered unhealthy as high blood pressure can lead to
various medical conditions such as heart and kidney problems, stroke, impaired vision and erectile
dysfunctions.
The reasons behind high blood pressure can vary. Usually it is a combination of different causes
such as smoking, lack of exercise, unhealthy diet, excessive drinking of alcohol and stress. In
some cases, it also results due to medicinal side effects or complications caused by other
diseases. High Blood Pressure and Heart Attack:
People suffer from heart attacks when their hearts do not receive enough oxygen. What happens is
that high blood pressure damages the blood vessels that carry oxygen to the heart muscles.
Subsequently, the flow of oxygen is blocked and heart attack occurs.
People with high blood pressure can also suffer from congestive heart failure, which is a serious
problem. In this, enough blood is not circulated in the body by the heart. High Blood Pressure and Blindness:
One of the risks of high blood pressure is impaired vision or in severe cases blindness. This
happens when the tiny blood vessels in the eyes burst due to the high pressure put on them.
High Blood Pressure and Stroke:
If too much pressure is exerted in the blood vessels of brain, then haemorrhage can occur. This
results in the losing of control over parts of the body and their functions.
Hence, it is very important to check blood pressure regularly and to keep both
systolic and diastolic readings under control.
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