What is Blood Pressure? Think of your blood vessels like a garden hose. Blood pressure is simply the physical force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries as it travels through your body.
How Does It Occur? Every time your heart beats, it pumps blood out into your arteries. This creates pressure. Your blood pressure is determined by two main things:
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The Heart’s Pumping: How much blood your heart is pumping out.
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The Arteries’ Resistance: How wide and flexible your arteries are.
Understanding the Numbers:
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Systolic (Top Number): The pressure when your heart squeezes and pumps blood out.
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Diastolic (Bottom Number): The pressure when your heart relaxes and fills with blood between beats.
Why Does High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) Happen? If your arteries become narrow, stiff, or clogged (like putting your thumb over the end of that garden hose), there is less space for the blood to flow. Your heart has to work much harder to push the blood through, which causes your blood pressure to rise.
Have you checked your blood pressure recently? Let’s discuss below!