Blood Pressure understanding – Nature, meaning, changes and what athletes should know about it
The blood. Who hasn’t been unpleasantly surprised by this unexpected guest? Who, for one reason or another, has the doctor not made him lose ground under his feet with the words “you have blood”? Such a person is happy. Still, it is good for a healthy person to know the dangers of blood pressure, to be able to protect himself from complications and to anticipate problems.
Table of Contents
What is blood pressure?
Is exactly what it sounds like. It is the pressure, the pressure that the blood exerts under pressure on the circulatory system and its vessels.
Why is the blood under pressure?
It is a natural physical and physiological process. The heart is a pump and it periodically pushes blood flows into a relatively closed circulatory system. Separately, this blood must move and it often flows from large vessels with a wide incision and large capacity to those with a narrower incision and smaller capacity. This also has an effect on the pressure. Last but not least, pumping, pressure, tension cause the blood vessels to react, changing their elasticity. The aorta, which receives the incoming blood flow, dilates and the pressure in it increases. She tries to equalize this pressure by moving the blood forward to the places with lower pressure.
Of course, it would be easier for the aorta, instead of “spreading” the blood throughout the body, to immediately contract and return the blood to the heart. But to prevent this from happening, take care of the semilunar valves, which do not allow backflow (as well as some shrinkage mechanisms). What have we learned so far? Blood is a normal phenomenon in the body of a living person. Its main engine is the heart muscle, but it is also greatly influenced by the vessels. The blood creates the conditions for normal blood circulation. It is evident that it varies, that when the heart contracts it is the highest, and then, with the distribution of blood downwards, it gradually decreases, until the next stroke. But how does this happen, what exactly is the mechanism?
Systole and diastole
The pumping function of the heart is, roughly speaking, realized by the contraction and relaxation of the atrial chamber. The moment of complete contraction, when the heart has pumped the most blood, is called systole. The moment of maximum relaxation of the heart muscle is referred to as diastole. Systole and diastole represent the normal heart rhythm. Based on basic physical knowledge, we should assume that systolic pressure is the highest and diastolic – the lowest, and between these moments the blood pressure gradually decreases.
The decline is not entirely smooth. Apparently it is influenced by many factors, such as the involvement of the aortic valves and the different contraction of large blood vessels. But the principle remains the same. The upper limit is called systolic pressure, the lower – diastolic and between the two moments the pressure drops, fluctuating, but with a clear downward trend. The difference between systolic and diastolic pressure is referred to as pulse pressure.
The mechanism described here measures pressure known to us as blood pressure. This is what we mean when we talk about “blood”. The device used to measure blood pressure is called a sphygmomanometer and comes in a variety of shapes, but the most familiar is the manometer headset and the pump strip that wraps around the armpit artery. In a normal, healthy adult, the limits are 120 torr for systolic and 80 torr for diastolic (another common unit of measurement is the millimeter of mercury, mmHg, assumed to be equal to this). Of course, small deviations are allowed, but this is what we generally adhere to.
What determines blood pressure?
- According to the conclusions, there are two main factors that affect blood pressure:
- Minute heart volume. Peripheral resistance of blood vessels.
Cardiac output is a property that reflects the relationship between heart rate and heart rate. That is, we received three main factors:
- heart rate;
- stroke frequency;
- resistance of blood vessels.
What does blood pressure tell us and what does it have to do with sports?
According to the examined connections, we can understand some guidelines for the condition and work of the heart muscle by the blood pressure. Of course, these guidelines still mean nothing, and it is good to be followed immediately by a cardiogram to determine the exact source of heart failure. The athlete actively influences blood pressure through sports in two main ways:
-
Gradual increase in the stroke volume of the heart, while the elasticity of the small blood vessels does not change or changes slightly .
- Short-term or periodic increase in heart rate per minute.
Both changes generally affect the systolic limit – the one that reflects the active work of the muscle, its contraction.
It should be noted that in principle such an increase is undesirable and such phenomena are pathological. But sport is still not an explanation for the changed blood. Be careful. Any lasting change in blood pressure should be monitored. It can be hidden in serious diseases, disorders of the heart and other organs, problems with homeostasis and others. For this purpose, once you have reported a change, it is good to monitor the blood at least a few more times and record the results in a calendar. It is best to do this two to three times a day and to consult a doctor with the recorded results.
High blood pressure (HBP) understanding
High blood pressure (raising both blood pressure limits) is most often considered idiopathic, ie. disease for no apparent reason. In general, a pressure above 130/85 is considered to be absolutely high. Signs that you have high blood pressure include dizziness, vertigo, nausea, irritability, insomnia, tightness of the nape of the neck, and nosebleeds. However, it is often asymptomatic. To determine the cause of HBP, a number of additional tests must be ordered, including triglycerides, etc..
This means that high blood pressure is an additional symptom of a number of diseases, such as diabetes, kidney and heart problems and others. Even when such diseases are not present, it is good to correct the blood. It is considered dangerous for long periods. The heart, blood vessels, kidneys, eyes and other organs are damaged. The disease also has a clinical manifestation – strokes and heart attacks and others. It is treated passively – with diet, avoidance of salt, spices and others, or actively – with medication, in more severe and prolonged cases.
Low blood pressure (LBP) understanding
Low blood pressure is generally considered a smaller problem than
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. Like it, it is often idiopathic and chronic. From low pressure darkens in front of the eyes, hands tremble, lose balance, there is dizziness. It is also a common cause of fainting. Dangers here are strict diets, dehydration, heavy blood loss during menstruation and others. Reduced blood pressure in men is considered to be below and below 100/60, and in women 95/60.
Children or teenagers are prone to temporary, age-related lowering of blood pressure, which, combined with restrictive diets, can become dangerous. It is essential and important to increase fluid intake in the long run, in the short term it is affected, for example, by coffee. LBP can be a sign of diseases such as anemia and heart failure, sepsis or hormonal abnormalities.
In the long run, it affects blood flow, reducing the nutrition of muscle, brain and other cells in the body. A good therapy against low blood pressure is sports. There are other narrow types of changes in the blood, such as the convergence of the upper and lower limits and their divergence.
Influences with medications and diets
A wide range of medications and supplements affect the blood. In fact, it is an element of homeostasis that is extremely easily affected by medications, and even by food and drink. Many commonly used medications in the gym can change blood pressure. Drugs used for weight loss, such as Clenbuterol and ephedrine, directly raise blood pressure. Ephedrine is used directly with this application and in medicine for heart failure.
Guarana or caffeine-based tonics also raise blood pressure. The link between creatine and high blood pressure is considered to be proven in many rspects.
Some therapies :
such as growth hormone therapy, can lower blood pressure. With HBP you should avoid a diet rich in fat, salty foods, caffeine, overeating, sausages, beans, mushrooms, turnips, soda and some spices such as horseradish, mustard and others.
With LBP, avoid alcohol and increase fluid intake. You can use moderately forbidden things in cases of high blood pressure. We cannot consider all cases and interactions. It is only good to know one thing: normal blood pressure is a major factor in the functioning of your body, nutrition and cell function. Even with sports alone, you are already slightly stressing this balance.
If, in one case or another, blood problems still occur, it is best to stop supplements and hormone therapies and try to overcome the problem. If you do not do this, you will get a short-term effect on your muscles and vision, but also a long-term one on your health and your body, which in one way or another will again affect your future results and physical condition.
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