A FEW WORDS ABOUT BLOOD PRESSURE
Blood pressure is the force on the walls of your blood vessels as blood flows through them.
Your heart is like a pump. When
it contracts, or beats, it sends a surge of blood through the blood vessels and pressure increases. This is called your systolic pressure.
When your heart relaxes between beats, your blood pressure decreases. This is called your diastolic pressure.
When a doctor takes your blood pressure, he or she measures both your systolic and diastolic pressures and records them as numbers. For example, if your blood pressure reading is 120/76 (120 over 76), your systolic is 120 and your diastolic is 76. The numbers are expressed in millimeters of mercury 120/76 mmHg.
Heart Contracts
(Pressure Increases)
Heart Relaxes
(Pressure Decreases)
Systolic
(Upper Number)
Diastolic
(Lower Number)
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