If you'd line up all the blood vessels in your body, they'll be about 95,000 km long which pumps about 7500 liters of blood a day. Well, there is the same 5 to 6 liters recycled everyday. All the blood exerts pressure on the walls of the muscular vessels, that is called blood pressure. There are 2 types.
The pressure is at its highest during Systole, where the heart contracts to pump blood. And its at the lowest at Diastolic Pressure, where there are gaps between the heart's pumping time.
Blood Pressure increases due to thickening of Blood, this is usually because of a high salt diet. It's also because of the fight or flight response, as the body releases hormones into the blood. More thicker the blood gets, more force has to be given to pump the blood, so the heart pumps harder.
Why you ask, Is Blood Pressure dangerous? Because the more harder the heart beats, there is more pressure on the walls of the vessels, And sometimes the walls get small tears which eventually swell up to form plaques.
And the things that respond to the Plaques are white blood cells in the blood. The white blood cells collect around the plaques, But even if one of the plaques break, Within minutes, A blood clot forms around it, completely blocking blood flow. That will cause a heart attack.
Dangerously clogged blood Vessels can be re-opened by a procedure called ANGIOPLASTY, In which doctors send in a deflated ballon in the place of the blockage and inflate it to free the blockage or they place a metal or polymer stent to keep the vessel open.
Now you know what Blood Pressure means !
SAY IT LOUD,
SAY IT PROUD,
I AM A BIO GEEK !!
