Blood Pressure Case Study

When the heart pumps blood through the blood vessels, the blood pushes against the walls of your blood vessels, and such a force is defined as blood pressure. Blood pressure represents the rises and falls with the phases of the heartbeat, and the heart is at its highest during systole and at rest during diastole. The systolic pressure is the measurement of when the heart muscle contracts to force blood through the arteries, while the diastolic pressure is the measurement of when the heart is at rest between beats and lowers the blood pressure to its lowest value. A human is at healthy blood pressure when their systolic pressure is less than 120 mm Hg and diastolic pressure less than 80 mm Hg (American Heart Association 2014). However, when a person’s blood pressure regularly rises above about 140/90 mm Hg, the person may have medical condition known as hypertension. If the force of the blood flow is often high, the tissue that makes up the walls of arteries can also get stretched beyond its healthy limit and damage occurs. The injured tissues swells, and the white blood cells collect around the tears. Fat, calcium and cholesterol can also collect and produce plaque which could lead to atherosclerosis. Once as the plaque ruptures, the blood clots …show more content…
Systolic hypertension is most common form found in the people at least 50 years of age, and therefore, physicians continuously monitor these patients’ blood pressures through treatments, pharmacological management and check-ups. Clinical trials over the years have investigated ways to improve the outcomes for hypertensive patients and be more effective in treating hypertension. One of these clinical trials included the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial funded by the National Instutites of Health