Blood Pressure Analysis - Report Sample

In every cardiac cycle, there are two important processes known as the systole and the diastole. The cardiac cycle entails a contraction and relaxation of the muscles which generate the force to pump the blood to the rest of the body. The lower chambers of the heart always have stronger muscles as compared to the upper chambers. The muscles are made strong to ensure that they have the force needed to pump blood to the body. The ventricular functioning of the heart is measured regarding isovolumic relaxation and isovolumic contraction. It is important to determine the duration of both the systole and the diastole of the heart since this information is reliable in the assessment of the cardiac function. For instance, this information is required n studying instances of diastolic heart failures of systolic heart failure. The diastole can be defined as the period when the heart muscles relax or the time of refilling. On the other hand, the systole is the moment when the heart muscles contract or moment of ejection. Therefore the sequence has the following procedural steps during the blood pumping process; the atrial diastole, ventricular diastole, atrial systole and ventricular systole. This paper will use data generated and recorded with a computer from a computer interface blood pressure machine. This data was collected on different dates between January 31st, 2017 and May 16th, 2017. Bothe the systoles and the diastole of the heart function were recorded with a further inclusion of the mean arterial pressure.

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Measurement of blood pressure

The process by which the blood is pumped to the rest of the body entails the heart muscles exerting pressure on the blood. The amount of pressure generated by the heart has a lot of implications on the heart condition of a human being. Blood pressure can be defined as the amount of blood that is pumped by the heart about the conditions as well as the size of the arteries. Technically the blood pressure measurement bases on the pressure that the blood exerts on the arteries. This pressure can be traced back to the amount of pressure that the heart generates during the pumping process. Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg).

Factors affecting blood pressure

As mentioned before, blood pressure is generated from the heart. The amount of pressure in the blood depends on the force of contraction of the ventricles. It has also been stated that the ventricles have thicker muscles that are more powerful that the upper chambers. Other factors that affect blood pressure include the amount/volume of water in the blood. The high amount of volume of water in the blood often results in high blood pressure. Apart from the pressure exerted on the blood, more water increases the volume of the blood which also adds to the total pressure exerted on the veins. Another important factor that affects the blood pressure is the blood the amount of salt dissolved in the blood. This implies that the conditions of the kidneys play a crucial role as far as blood pressure is concerned. The state of the nervous system and the blood vessels also play an important role in determining the blood pressure as well as levels of various hormones in the body.

The table below shows the data collected and recorded by the blood pressure machine.

Blood Pressure Dates: Diastolic Pressures:(mmHg) / Systolic Pressures:(mmHg) / Mean Arterial Pressures:(mmHg)

####### 137 93 107

####### 131 84 71

####### 141 94 81

####### 139 96 77

####### 122 73 82

####### 141 91 66

####### 126 67 86

####### 134 94 88

####### 132 84 73

####### 156 91 80

####### 138 86 84

####### 157 92 79

The graph below shows the data collected and recorded by the blood pressure machine.

The systoles and the diastole have different pressure with the systolic pressure always higher than the diastolic pressure. For a normally functioning heart, the systolic pressure is often 120 while the diastolic pressure is often 80. During systolic pressure, the ventricle muscles contract which pumps blood under high-pressure recording 120mmHg. During diastolic pressure, the ventricle muscles contract which pumps blood under low pressure compared of 80mmHg. Blood pressure is represented as a fraction as shown below:

120/80=Syystolic/Distolic

From the collected data, it can be established that the person recorded varying blood pressure on different dates. On January 31st, 2017 the computer recorded a high blood pressure of 13793 (mmHg). The next recording was lower than the previous, and this was 13184 (mmHg), which was almost close to normal blood pressure. These values were alternating over the entire period that the blood pressure was measured.

The pumping rate of the heart changes depending on the oxygen demand of the body. This also affects the blood pressure hence might be considered as the reason for the changes in the blood pressure recorded. The time and occasion in which the blood pressure was determined had a lot of impact on the values recorded. However, these specifications have not been provided thus the assumption that the measurement was conducted under similar conditions. The cardiovascular system that comprises of the heart and all the blood vessels, which all respond to any physical exercise. During a physical exercise, the rate of heartbeat increases and this increase the cardiac output. This is given to the fact that the cardiac output is directly responsible for the amount of blood pumped by the heart per unit time.

The mean arterial pressure

The mean arterial pressure (MAP) is a function derived from arithmetically manipulating the values of the systole and the diastole of a single measurement. MAP can be defined as a measure of perfusion of tissue. In determining the MAP values, it is important to consider an important factor that the time taken for a systole is twice the time taken for a diastole. Therefore, the values of the systole are multiplied by two to equate it to the total time of the diastole as indicated in the equation below:

(syystole+2diastole)3=MAP

These values of MAP are directly proportional to the cardiac output, but at the same time, it is an inverse of the values of the total peripheral resistance (TPR). To understand the difference between cardiac output and TPR, it is important to understand the two occur. In every beat, blood is pumped out of the heart, and this is referred to as the cardiac output. A single volume of blood that leaves the heart is also referred to as the stroke volume. On the other hand, the TPR is dependent on four critical factors. One, TPR is dependent on the diameter of the blood vessel in which it is channeled. Two, TPR is determined by the elasticity of the blood vessels through which the blood moves. Three, TPR is affected by the length of the arterial system through which the blood is channeled. Finally, TPR is affected by the viscosity of the blood. All these factors contribute to pressure that the blood exerts on the walls of the arteries during systole and diastole. Mathematically, the TPR can be established by subtracting the pressure in the nervous system from the systolic pressure.

Understanding the BP values

Medical practitioners have to understand the meaning of every measurement of the diastole and the systole (blood pressure). The values are interpreted to determine whether a patient has normal blood pressure, prehypertension, high blood pressure and other emergency cases. The table below can be used to categorize blood pressure.

Category of blood pressure / Systolic pressure in mmHg / Diastolic pressure in mmHg

Normal SBP<120 DBP<80

Pre-hypertension 120-139 80-89

High blood pressure or hypertension stage 1 140-159 90-99

High blood pressure or hypertension stage 2 160 or SBP>160 100 or DBP>100

Hypertension crisis (emergency case) SDP>180 DBP>110

From the data collected and recorded, it is evident that the patient did not have a critical blood pressure that required emergency care. No single systole recorded was above 180 and no diastole recorded was above 110. High blood pressure or hypertension stage 1 was recorded by the machine on eight occasions when the diastole was between 90 and 99. A similar situation was evident on five occasions when the systolic pressure was between 140 and 159. At no occasion did the patient record a normal blood pressure since all the figures of the systole were above 120 while the figures of the diastole were above 80. The patient was also diagnosed with pre-hypertension on several occasions.

The mean arterial pressure provides useful figures that doctors use in determining how the oxygenated blood is distributed in the entire body. In case a person records a low MAP, there is a high likelihood that the patient may develop shock. On the other hand, high MAP also has negative implications on health. In interpreting the Map values, doctors will consider the range between 70 and 110 as normal MAP pressure. At the lowest level, a person would need a MAP of 60 to enable adequate supply of blood to the arteries kidneys and other major body organs. This implies that in case the MAP value falls below 60, there is a high chance of organ failure due to lack of oxygenation and nutrition.

Conclusion

Blood pressure is an important indicator of a persons health. High blood pressure and low blood pressure are conditions that require medical attention. This can be determined by observing the measurements of the systole and the diastole. A normal systole should be 120 mmHg while a normal diastole must be 80mmHg. From the data, recorded, it is evident that the patient suffers from high blood pressure. Most of the measurements indicated that the condition could be referred to as hypertension stage 1. The situation has to be managed to ensure that the blood pressure is reduced to normal for the efficient functioning of the organs.