Blood Pressure Readings

Blood pressure is the pressure at which the blood travels throughout the body via its various veins and arteries. There are two main types of blood pressure, and so two main types of blood pressure readings.

‘Systolic pressure’ is the peak pressure when the blood is traveling from the heart to circulate through the body. ‘Diastolic’ pressure is the pressure at its lowest point. This happens during the resting phase of the cardiac cycle.

Unless otherwise defined, the term ‘blood pressure’ refers to the overall systemic arterial blood pressure, or the pressure in the large arteries that deliver blood to the body’s organs and limbs other than the lungs.

Blood pressure values are stated in millimeters of mercury quite universally throughout the world. Though most people are familiar with the systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings, there are two other equally important blood pressure readings that can be made.

The mean arterial pressure and the pulse pressure are some other important qualities about the pressure of the blood. The term ‘mean arterial pressure’ is used in medicine to describe an average blood pressure in a person using notation. This value is defined as the average arterial pressure during one cardiac cycle. Pulse pressure is the change in blood pressure that occurs during a heart contraction, or systolic pressure minus diastolic pressure.

Did you know that the traditional means of checking blood pressure, even the more sensitive sensors in today’s blood pressure reading devices are still not extremely accurate? As it turns out, the true blood pressure can be read with invasive measurement devices such as the placement of a cannula into a blood vessel which is then connected to an electronic pressure sensor.

The traditional blood pressure cuff is a non-invasive auscultatory device that is used for its lack of complications, they are very non-invasive and generally seem to be the most efficient and pleasant way to measure blood pressure, while remaining accurate enough for most purposes.


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