Index
Definition:
Hypotension is the medical term for low blood pressure.
Description
The blood pressure in the arteries goes up and down like the heart and muscles in daily life, with exercise, sleep, and stress. According to their age, some healthy people have blood pressure below the average, even though they have a completely normal heart and blood vessels. This is often the case for athletes who are in good physical shape. The term “hypotension” is usually used only when the blood pressure has been reduced enough not to be able to reach the brain, causing dizziness and fainting.
Causes and symptoms
Postural hypotension is the most common type of low blood pressure. The symptoms appear after a person remains seated and stands up quickly in this condition. In healthy people, the cardiovascular system should make a quick adjustment to increase blood pressure slightly and consider the change in position. For those with postural hypotension, adjusting blood pressure is inappropriate and can occur when someone takes certain drugs or medications for high blood pressure. It also happens in people with diabetes when nerve damage has disturbed the reflexes that control blood pressure.
Many people have chronic problems with low blood pressure, which is not especially serious. This can include people who require specific medications, are pregnant, have bad veins, or have arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).
The most serious problem with low blood pressure occurs when there is a sudden fall, which can be fatal due to generalized ischemia (insufficient blood supply to an organ due to blockage of an artery). This type of low blood pressure can be due to a wide variety of causes, including:
- Trauma with extensive blood loss
- Severe burns
- The shock of different causes
- Heart attack
- Adrenal insufficiency (Addison crisis)
- Cancer
- Severe fever
- Severe infection (septicemia)
Diagnosis
It measures the pressure in the arteries created by the heart’s contraction. During the day, the blood pressure of an average person constantly changes, depending on the activity. Low blood pressure can be diagnosed by measuring blood pressure with a sphygmomanometer. It is a device with a soft rubber sleeve inflated around the upper arm until it is tight enough to stop blood flow. The bracelet deflates slowly until the health worker, listening to the artery in the arm with a stethoscope, can hear the blood for the first time as a heartbeat makes its way along the route. This is systolic pressure. The bracelet deflates further until the rhythm disappears and blood flows steadily through the open artery; this gives the diastolic pressure.
Blood pressure is recorded as systolic (high) and diastolic (lower). A healthy young adult has a blood pressure of 110/75, typically increasing with age to around 140/90 at age 60.
Treatment for hypotension
The treatment of low blood pressure depends on the underlying cause, which can usually be resolved. For those with hypotension, a medication adjustment can help prevent the problem.
