Measuring Blood Pressure

what is pulse pressure

(systolic pressure- diastolic pressure)

what are the steps to measuring blood pressure with cuff?

1) place cuff over brachial artery 2) raise pressure in cuff above systolic pressure 3) slowly release air and listen for sounds thru stethoscope 4) continue to release air from the cuff until pressure measures below diastole

what is normal blood pressure

120/80 mmHg

what blood pressure signifies hypertension

210/120 mmHg

what is teh blood pressure in capillaries and why is it good?

35-15 mmHg. Good because capillaries are fragile and high pressure could cause them to rupture

what happens to blood pressure when you exercise?

As muscles begin exercising, the arterioles serving the muscle dilate to provide more blood flow. By itself, this vasodilation would lower the total peripheral resistance and thus mean arterial pressure but the heart is beating stronger and faster, which offsets the drop in peripheral pressure.

Name the vessels in order of gratest pressure to least pressure

aorta, arteries, arterioles, capillaries, veules, veins, vena cava

where does the steepest drop in blood pressure occur?

arterioles

as you continue to release the cuff pressure while taking BP, what happens to the Korotkoff sounds?

at first they get louder then they disappear. The pressure right before the sounds disappear is diastolic pressure

What is blood pressure

force per unit area exerted on the vessel wall by the contained blood (mm Hg)

what is the mean arterial pressure?

it's the overall pressure that propels blood to all tissues of the body MAP= diastolic pressure + 1/3 (pulse pressure) pulse pressure= systolic - diastolic

why does the steepest drop in blood pressure occur in arterioles?

largest resistance to flow

what is diastolic blood pressure?

pressure in aorta decreases to its lowest level

why can't you hear anything when you're taking someones blood pressure and you set the pressure above 120 mm Hg, you can't hear anything. Why is that?

the cuff pressure exceeds systolic pressure so vessel is occluded and no sounds of blood flow can be heard

what is resistance?

the opposition to flow which blood encounters as it passes through blood vessels

what is systolic blood pressure

the pressure gradient in the aorta reaches its peak

as you release the cuff pressure while taking someone's BP, you begin to hear sounds. What does the sound represent

the sound of small amount of blood rushing thru the partly occluded vessel is the systolic blood pressure.

what are Korotkoff sounds?

the sounds you hear when taking someone's BP