Hypertension

Secrets of the tension:

Blood pressure is the pressure of blood in the arteries. Step missed any consultation, measuring the voltage remains mysterious. What do the two figures announced? When can we speak of hypertension? How does a blood pressure? Doctissimo an update on all these subjects that are important to you.

In the body, the arteries act as foster mothers. They carry blood from the heart to various body tissues and thus provide oxygen to cells essential to their survival. At each contraction of the heart, blood is expelled forcefully from the heart chambers and propelled into the ducts. To perform their function satisfactorily, they must remain flexible and unobstructed (free fatty deposits).

Diastolic and systolic:

The arrival of this wave has a blood pressure on the artery walls, as would the water flowing in a hose. This pressure to the contraction of the heart, or systolic, is the highest figure measured when taking blood. This is the systolic blood pressure. Systole occurs after a period of relaxation or diastole, during which the heart relaxes and fills. The pressure exerted by blood in the arteries is then lower. It corresponds to the lowest number, or diastolic blood pressure.

The art of the cuff:

It is these pressures that we consider when taking blood. Must become the instrument of any consultation, the monitor is composed of a cuff equipped with an inflatable sleeve connected to a manometer to measure pressure. Placed around the upper arm and inflated, the cuff stops the flow of blood through the artery of the arm (brachial artery).

The doctor raises his stethoscope over the artery, downstream of the cuff, it gradually deflates.

* When the cuff pressure exceeds the systolic blood pressure, blood does not flow and no sound is heard. When cuff pressure decreases, the blood begins to pass through the artery and rattled the walls, compressed by the device. Each heartbeat thus entails a regular sound, synchronous pulse.