Healthy Heart
For a young person a typical reading might be 120 systolic and 80 diastolic. These values are expressed in millimetres of mercury and it is conventional to record the values as systolic/diastolic e.g, 120/80. Blood pressure in an individual is not a fixed property but varies from minute to are asleep at night and may … Read more
Pressures are usually measured with an instrument called a sphygmomanometer. A cuff containing a rubber balloon is placed around the upper arm and inflated to a pressure above the systolic so that no blood can get through. Pressure in the cuff is then slowly released while an observer listens over the artery at the elbow … Read more
The heart is not a continuous pump. It beats and then relaxes. Each heart-beat produces a pressure wave. The peak or maximum of this wave is I called the systolic pressure and the trough or lowest point between beats is the diastolic pressure. The height of the systolic pressure is partly due to the amount … Read more
The term “blood pressure” is applied to the pressure of blood in the arteries, which conduct blood from the heart to the rest of the body. The circulation requires pressure to maintain the flow of blood.
High blood pressure (or “hypertension” as it is called by doctors) is a common condition which affects between one in five and one in ten of the population, particularly in middle age. The rest of the population has a normal blood pressure.
This chapter, written by the British Hypertension Society, aims to present the basic facts about one of the most common disorders of Western Society. High blood pressure is a puzzling condition for many as it only rarely makes people feel ill. Quite reasonably, therefore, patients in apparently good health ask why they should take tablets, … Read more
Food should be fun a booklet available from the British Heart Foundation. The Light-Hearted Cookbook by Anne Lindsay (Grub Street in association with the British Heart Foundation £9.95) available from most good book shops or from BHF’s mail order catalogue at Heart Cards Ltd, FREEPOST, PO Box 45, Burton upon Trent, Staffs DE14 1BR. The … Read more
Patients with High Blood Cholesterol For most people the level of blood cholesterol is the result of both diet and lifestyle. If the level is high then it is particularly important to maintain ideal weight, take regular exercise, eat a diet which is low in fat (particularly saturated fat) and not to smoke. A further … Read more
The gradual narrowing of the coronary arteries which cause heart disease usually takes decades before the vessels are so obstructed that a heart attack or angina occurs. And there is great concern that the process may start in childhood, since young teen-agers killed in car accidents have been found to have streaks of fatty atheroma … Read more
For several health reasons, it’s important to keep weight under control and by using the charts it is possible to see what is the ideal weight for a particular height. If it is necessary to lose some weight, then the tips given earlier for reducing fat intake will also help to reduce your calories. Some … Read more