Normal Blood Pressure Reading Rarely Fluctuates By Patient
When it comes to blood pressure, it can often be a symptom of something more serious and when it is higher than a normal blood pressure reading, the attending physician may take steps to determine its cause. Individually, there may be some fluctuation in what is considered a normal blood pressure reading for that person, but overall there are specific readings that spark a doctor's interest, regardless of the patient's medical or family history.
Too many times a patient will inform their doctor, if their pressure reading is slightly elevated that they have always had a higher than normal blood pressure reading. Most doctors will not accept this and will take steps to bring it down into a more normal blood pressure reading range. A patient's blood pressure is read with two separate readings, the systolic pressure, which is the pressure of the blood against the arterial walls when the heart pumps, and the diastolic, which is the pressure on the walls when the heart is at rest.
Medical scientists have concluded that a normal blood pressure reading should be a systolic pressure or 120 and a diastolic pressure reading of 80, measured with a sphygmomanometer. A person with a blood pressure reading considerably lower may be at risk of other health problems as well as those with a higher blood pressure reading.
Uncontrolled Blood Pressure Can Be Deadly
When a person has numbers that above the normal blood pressure reading their doctor is likely to first prescribe medication to help lower the blood pressure. Depending on how high the readings, the doctor may also order other medical tests to determine if another medical condition, such as a kidney problem, is causing a higher than normal blood pressure reading.
Blood pressure that remains unchecked is one of the leading causes of death contributed to heart attack and stroke and in most cases, patients have seldom known they had higher than normal blood pressure readings until advised by their doctor. Many physicians have trouble understanding how it can go undetected for long periods, since it is a simple non-invasive test that takes less than two minutes to make the determination.
Once a person has been diagnosed as having high blood pressure, they will typically be on medication to keep it under control. In most cases a normal blood pressure reading can be achieved through the use of many different medications and in some instances, cholesterol lowering drugs may also be in order to help the patient achieve a closer to normal blood pressure reading.
