Blood pressure (BP) is considered the most unstable indicator of the human body. Its level can change a huge number of times throughout the day at any age. This is due to hormonal levels, changes in weather conditions, emotional state, physical activity, etc. The average blood pressure is considered to be 120/80 mm Hg. Art. The numbers increase and decrease, the reasons for which may be physiological and pathological factors.
In this article we will talk about pressure readings of 100 to 60. What does this mean, should adults, children and women be wary of such numbers during pregnancy, and also what to do if the reasons for the appearance of such numbers on the tonometer are pathological processes in the human body.
What does each number mean?
Blood pressure is a measure of the pressure that blood exerts on the walls of blood vessels as it passes through them. The blood flow is created by the heart, which works like a pump. The heart muscle has the ability to contract (systole) and relax (diastole). During the first period, blood is pushed into large arteries, which is accompanied by the highest pressure levels. This is the first number. In this case we are talking about 100. The indicator is called systolic or upper (in common parlance) pressure.
During relaxation, the second number is recorded (in this case, 60). It is also called diastolic pressure or lower. Experts pay attention not only to these numbers, but also calculate the difference between them, calling this indicator pulse pressure. The blood pressure level is formed under the influence of the following factors:
- The force with which the heart pushes blood into the vessels.
- Hormonal background.
- Conditions of the central and peripheral nervous system.
- Conditions and indicators of arterial elasticity.
- The total volume of blood circulating in the body.
Important! The normal blood pressure level is considered to be 120–129/80–84 mmHg. Art.
How to measure pressure correctly
Rules for measuring blood pressure (BP):
Blood pressure is measured when a person is at rest: no earlier than 1.5–2 hours after eating, smoking, drinking coffee and other tonic drinks.
The best position for measuring pressure is when the person is sitting on a chair and the hand on which the pressure is supposed to be measured is placed on the table. The part of the arm on which the cuff is applied must be freed from pressure clothing and the muscles relaxed, as muscle contractions can lead to incorrect results.
The cuff, depending on the type of tonometer, is applied either to the lower third of the shoulder, not reaching 2.5 cm to the upper edge of the cubital fossa, or to the wrist.
While the tonometer is operating, it is important to maintain a motionless posture, do not move your hand, do not talk, or worry.
For the first time, the pressure is measured on both hands. If the difference between the readings does not exceed 10 mm Hg. Art., then subsequent measurements are usually performed on the non-working hand - for right-handers on the left, for left-handers - on the right. If the indicators differ by more than 10 mm Hg. Art. it is necessary to measure the pressure on the arm, where large numbers are recorded.
It is necessary to measure blood pressure, especially for people who have already been diagnosed with hypertension, twice a day: in the morning an hour after waking up and in the evening before going to bed. The number of measurements during the day varies depending on how you feel, if alarming symptoms appear indicating increased blood pressure.
Patients measuring blood pressure at home are advised to record the results in a special diary. Such blood pressure monitoring allows you to monitor blood pressure levels and evaluate the effectiveness of medications used to reduce blood pressure.
Blood pressure is measured using a special tonometer device.
Two modifications of tonometers are used:
- Mechanical
- Semi-automatic
Mechanical aneroid sphygmomanometers are used mainly in medical institutions, since their use requires certain knowledge and skills. The cuff is placed on the shoulder, air is pumped into its chamber using a rubber bulb, and tones are listened to using a phonendoscope.
For home use, it is better to use automatic or semi-automatic models of tonometers.
A semi-automatic tonometer works on the following principle: a cuff is fastened on the wrist, air is pumped into it with a bulb, which soon comes out automatically. At the end of the measurement, the results appear on the display.
To operate the automatic blood pressure monitor, simply place the cuff on your wrist and press the start button. All other actions occur automatically. Various types of automatic tonometers have been developed: with a shoulder cuff, wrist, finger.
Causes of hypotension
Biophysical factors that are involved in the development of hypotension are:
- Decreasing the amount of venous blood that returns to the heart.
- Decrease in total circulating blood volume.
- Reduced vascular resistance in the periphery.
- Decrease in cardiac output and stroke.
Pathologies of pregnant women
Blood pressure of 100 over 60 during pregnancy, especially in women over 30 years of age, is considered a pathology, especially if symptoms of hypotension are added. Most often, low blood pressure is observed at the end of the first trimester of pregnancy and at 19-23 weeks. Persistent hypotension can cause oxygen starvation of the fetus, which provokes the development of malnutrition and damage to the child’s central nervous system. It is important to monitor the blood pressure of a pregnant woman in order to have time to adjust the numbers.
Teenage years
Adolescents aged 12–13 years experience hormonal changes in the body, which may be accompanied by a decrease in blood pressure. Girls are more likely to face this problem than boys. Hypotension is combined with both accelerated physical development of the body and its slowdown.
Important! A persistent drop in blood pressure during puberty (adolescence) can trigger the development of severe hypertension at a later age.
Psychological characteristics and constitution
Experts say that low blood pressure (for example, 101 to 63, 104 to 64) is more often complained of by patients who are prone to depression and an exaggerated sense of duty. In such cases, treatment is largely aimed not at taking medications, but at using meditative techniques, yoga, breathing exercises, and herbal medicine.
If we talk about the relationship between arterial hypotension and body constitution, then people with an asthenic body type more often complain about a decrease in blood pressure. In such patients, longitudinal dimensions prevail over transverse ones: arms and legs are long, the neck is thin and long, and the muscles are poorly developed.
Lack of physical activity
Modern innovations in technology are causing people to stop moving. Most people prefer to work and relax while sitting at the computer. In this case, not only hypotension occurs, but also cardiovascular diseases, digestive pathologies, and diseases of the musculoskeletal system due to weakness of the muscular system and joints.
Chronic infections
A third of patients who go to doctors with complaints of low blood pressure, dizziness, periodic pulsation in the back of the head and frequent headaches have foci of chronic infection in the body. In this case, hypotension is caused by intoxication, metabolic disorders (metabolism), and circulatory disorders.
Endocrine diseases
The organs of the endocrine apparatus are responsible for the state of the body's hormonal levels. The most common causes of hypotension are Addison's disease (adrenal dysfunction, characterized by a decrease in the amount of hormones produced) and hypothyroidism (lack of thyroid hormones).
Medicines
Long-term or uncontrolled use of medications can serve as a factor in lowering blood pressure. We are talking about the following groups of drugs:
- Sleeping pills.
- Painkillers.
- Antibacterial agents.
- Tranquilizers.
- Sedatives.
- Diuretics, etc.
Types of hypotonic conditions
Primary hypotension is characterized by a decrease in blood pressure, the causes of which are not pathologies of the heart and blood vessels. Secondary, on the contrary, is a manifestation of a disease. Depending on how long the numbers remain at low levels, acute and chronic forms of the pathological condition are distinguished. In the first case, if we talk about blood pressure 100/60, such numbers remain at a low level for a short time, in the second - over a long period.
Physiological form
We can talk about a physiological variant of hypotension if a pressure of 100/60 (or other low numbers) is discovered by chance, is not accompanied by a deterioration in general well-being and is caused by some physiological reason. Hypotension can be an individual variant of the norm, observed in people actively involved in sports and those living in tropical and subtropical climates.
Pathological form
This type of blood pressure reduction exists in two variations: neurocirculatory and idiopathic orthostatic. The first type manifests itself with a clear clinical picture, the second is characterized by a drop in blood pressure only if the body position changes from horizontal to vertical (for example, when getting out of bed in the morning).
Symptomatic form
She is secondary. It is a symptom of a certain disease. May occur against the background of:
Blood pressure 100 to 80
- Diseases of the heart and blood vessels (heart failure, cardiomyopathy, inflammation of the myocardium, pericardium).
- Pathologies of the respiratory system (pneumonia, tuberculosis, bronchial asthma).
- Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract (stomach and duodenal ulcers).
- Diseases of the renal apparatus (econephropathy, nephritis).
- Pathologies of the nervous system (Parkinson's disease, encephalopathy, cerebral infarction, mental illness).
Symptoms
Hypotension - even the physiological form - can be accompanied by the development of pathological symptoms. Signs of hypotensive changes will include:
- weakness, drowsiness, fatigue;
- strong reaction to weather changes (meteosensitivity);
- violation of thermoregulation - legs and arms are almost always cold and freezing;
- increased sweating;
- headaches localized to the forehead;
- poor tolerance to physical/psycho-emotional stress;
- pale skin;
- motion sickness;
- occasional nausea.
Important! Hypotonic patients need a longer night's rest. For the human body to rest and recover, it needs 10-12 hours.
If you have such symptoms, you should consult with your doctor, who will determine the true cause of hypotension and prescribe adequate treatment for the condition.
Feeling good with blood pressure 100/60
If the pressure drops sharply, the patient complains of headache, dizziness, pulsation in the back of the head, rapid heartbeat (at a pressure of 100 to 60, the pulse can reach 100 beats/min). Cold sweat, severe weakness appear, trembling in the limbs may occur, and body temperature decreases. The result of a critical drop in indicators is a fainting state requiring emergency assistance.
With chronic hypotension, the patient complains of daily weakness, fatigue, emotional lability, depression, and shortness of breath. With a chronic type of pathology, people get used to attributing their poor health to all sorts of factors, but not to a drop in pressure. The problem is associated with changes in weather conditions, fatigue at work, stress, overeating or, conversely, diet abuse.
Blood pressure 105 over 65 in children and adolescents
Children and adolescents are characterized by low blood pressure relative to the standard “adult” indicators of 120 to 80. If a young growing body is comfortable with this pressure and there are no accompanying symptoms, it means that this is normal pressure for a particular young person.
However, in cases where a child notices at least a couple of symptoms of hypotension (often lethargy, headaches, fatigue), then it is definitely worth contacting your treating pediatrician.
A blood pressure of 105 over 65 is generally at the lower limit of normal. For women and children, this pressure is very common and normal. The main criterion by which it is worth assessing whether such pressure is normal is the self-perception of each individual person.
Diagnostic measures
When contacting specialists with a problem of low blood pressure (for example, 100–106 to 60–66), patients are interested in the question of whether this is normal, and if not, how to improve the readings. The doctor must ask the patient about the following points:
- When were such pressure indicators first noticed?
- Associated symptoms.
- What is the patient’s “working” pressure?
- Do the patient and his relatives have any diseases of the cardiovascular system?
- The presence of pathologies of other systems.
- Does the person take any medications, etc.
Hypotension can cause fainting
Blood pressure must be measured several times at intervals of 5–10 minutes. If necessary, daily monitoring of blood pressure with monitoring of pulse and other indicators of heart function is prescribed. Additional methods include ECG, echocardiography, electro- and rheoencephalography, and examination by an ophthalmologist.
Symptoms requiring medical attention
There are quite a lot of manifestations that oblige the patient to see a doctor.
Among them:
- Severe headache or constant cephalalgia (headache) of an unrefined nature.
- Dizziness of unknown origin with regular relapses.
- Nausea.
- Vomiting without signs of relief after the next process. It has a recurrent, repeated nature.
- Fainting states of a regular nature.
- Darkening of the eyes with a sudden change in body position or rapid movements. Indicates a sharp drop in blood pressure as a result of minor physical activity. Is it dangerous.
- Heart rhythm disturbances such as tachycardia, that is, an increase in the number of beats per minute or bradycardia, the reverse process
- Pain behind the sternum or in the back on any side of varying nature and intensity.
- Dyspnea. Increase in the number of respiratory movements per minute. Considered an unfavorable sign.
- Mental status disorders (depressive and anxiety disorders).
In all cases, you should consult a doctor. If necessary, you should call an ambulance to resolve the issue of emergency correction or transportation to a cardiology hospital.
Correction of indicators and first aid
To increase the pressure, you must follow the following algorithm:
- Call a team of medical workers.
- Lie on a horizontal surface with the leg end raised or lay the victim down in this way.
- Open a window or direct a fan to provide fresh air.
- Drink sweet warm tea or give the victim something to drink. You can add 10 drops of tincture of eleutherococcus, ginseng or Rhodiola rosea.
- Rub your whiskey with lemon essential oil.
Treatment recommendations
First of all, it is necessary to normalize your lifestyle. You should do gymnastics daily, preferably in the fresh air. Evening walking, swimming, cycling, and light jogging are excellent options for low blood pressure. You should stop drinking alcohol and smoking and normalize your sleep. And it is also important to correct the diet: give up fried, smoked and fatty foods, include a large amount of vegetables and fruits, grains in the menu.
The prescription of medications depends on the type of hypotension. In the primary form of the pathology, anticholinergics are used, which have a sedative and antispasmodic effect. In order to increase the heart rate (according to indications) and increase the return of blood to the heart, sympathomimetics are prescribed.
And they also use preparations based on herbal and other natural ingredients (tincture of aralia, ginseng, zamanikha, camphor, Pantocrine, Saparal). In the treatment of symptomatic hypotension, attention should be paid to the treatment of the underlying disease that caused the decrease in blood pressure. To regulate blood pressure numbers, it is important to take vitamins:
- Thiamine.
- Riboflavin.
- Niacin.
- Pantothenic acid.
- Pyridoxine.
- Folic acid.
- Cyanocobalamin.
- Ascorbic acid.
- Calciferol.
Important! Hardening helps well, which can be used to prevent a hypotonic state.
Diagnostics and specialists
If hypotension is regular and associated symptoms are present, it’s time to consult a specialist. In this case, you should go to a therapist.
To make a diagnosis, the therapist will need to study the life and family history, listen to the patient’s complaints, and also pay attention to the reasons and circumstances in which the symptoms accompanying hypotension arose. In case of ambiguous indications, the therapist may prescribe the following series of diagnostic procedures:
- blood and/or urine test;
- Ultrasound examinations (ultrasound) of the chest and abdominal organs;
- computed tomography (CT);
- magnetic resonance imaging (MRI);
- radiography;
- electrocardiography;
- echocardiography, etc.
Serial tonometry results are the main diagnostic indicator, demonstrating fluctuations in blood pressure at different times of the day and in different situations.
