Intro:

Blood pressure is the pressure of the blood within the arteries. It is produced primarily by the contraction of the heart muscle. Its measurement is recorded by two numbers. The first (systolic pressure) is measured after the heart contracts and is highest. The second (diastolic pressure) is measured before the heart contracts and lowest (MedicineNet). Systolic pressure measures the amount of pressure that blood exerts on arteries and essels while the heart is beating! whereas diastolic pressure measures the pressure that is exerted on the walls of the arious arteries around the body in between heart beats when the heart is relaxed. In other words the systolic pressure is the pea" pressure and the diastolic is the pressure is the minimum pressure. #ulse pressure is the difference between the systolic pressure and diastolic pressure. It is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm $g)! as is blood pressure and it is the pressure change between the diastolic and systolic pressures which creates the pulse. Blood pressure is important because the higher your blood pressure is! the higher your ris" of health problems in the future. If your blood pressure is high! it is putting extra strain on your arteries and on your heart. % er time! this strain can cause the arteries to become to become thic"er and less flexible! or to become wea"er. If your arteries become thic"er and less flexible! they will become more narrow! ma"ing them more li"ely to become clogged up. If an artery becomes completely clogged up ("nown as a clot)! this can lead to a heart attac"! a stro"e! "idney disease or dementia. More rarely! if an artery has become wea"ened! the extra strain may e entually lead to the artery bursting. This may also cause a heart attac" or stro"e (Blood #ressure &ssociation). If so many things could go wrong it is imperati e that blood is constantly filtered and recycled going bac" to the heart ia capillaries! eins! to the ena ca a and bac" into the right atrium of the heart! in the correct way. Shoc"! a sudden drop in blood pressure! reduces the flow of oxygen and nutrients to a person's ital organs such as their brain! heart and lungs. If the blood flow is not restored! the person may die from complications due to lac" of oxygen supply to ma(or organs (hypoxia) (Better $ealth )o). *hen your blood pressure begins to fall too low! a signal is sent to your brain. +our brain responds by producing chemicals called neurotransmitters. )ertain neurotransmitters! called catecholamines! cause your heart to beat faster and more forcefully and cause your blood essels to tighten. These actions increase your blood pressure. The change in the rate and force of your beating heart also causes a change in the amount of blood flowing through your "idneys. +our "idneys react to low blood pressure by producing a chemical called renin! which causes blood essels to tighten. ,enin is con erted to a chemical called angiotensin II! which further tightens your blood essels. In addition! neurotransmitters are thought to ma"e the "idneys produce more renin! increasing blood pressure e en more. +our "idneys also regulate your blood pressure in another way. *hen there is not enough fluid in your body as in cases where you are dehydrated or ha e experienced ery hea y bleeding! your "idneys will absorb salt! or sodium! and fluid from your urine. This causes an increase in the amount of fluid in your blood essels and raises your

blood pressure. This is how the body attempts to "eep the blood pressure at a normal le el. +our blood pressure has to be high enough for enough blood to reach all the organs. In contrast! when there is too much fluid in your body! your "idneys will flush sodium and excess water out of your body in the urine. This reduces the amount of fluid or blood plasma in your blood essels and lowers your blood pressure (Scherer). -actors that control heart rate include. exercise! food! drugs! emotions /fight or flight0! and body temperature. %ur experimental ob(ecti es included listening to the human heart sounds and describing them! correlating the human heart sound with mechanical e ents of the cardiac cycle! becoming familiar with the materials and their use in approximating systemic arterial blood pressure! and approximating1recording systemic arterial blood pressure and the factors that influenced it. %ur o erall purpose was to measure the effect of age! gender! and body position! and exercising had on the blood pressure of the -ourth #eriod &natomy class.

Materials:
2Stethoscope 2*atch 2Sphygmomanometer Methodology. *rap the completely deflated cuff snugly around their arm about 3 cm abo e the elbow! "eeping the cuff as flat as possible. )lose the al e on the inflating bulb and pump up the pressure in the cuff until the mercury manometer registers 456 mm $g. #lace the bell of the stethoscope directly o er the brachial artery (slightly abo e the elbow crease). *hen applying the stethoscope! don't touch the cuff. 7isten for sound! and position the stethoscope bell where sound is best heard. Increase cuff pressure until sound disappears. %pen the al e on the inflating bulb slightly! allowing the cuff to deflate at a rate of 8 to 3 mm per second! while simultaneously listening for sounds with the stethoscope. ,ecord the reading of the manometer when the first sound is heard (systolic pressure). )ontinue to deflate the cuff at a rate of 8 to 3 mm $g per second! while listening to the sound with the stethoscope. ,ecord the reading of the manometer when the sounds become dull and muffled (diastolic pressure) and when the sounds disappear. Ma"e a record thus.

&fter diastolic pressure has been determined! rapidly deflate the cuff and remo e it from the sub(ect. The cuff need not be remo ed! if another determination will be made within a few minutes.

Results:
Table 1 shows the effect of age on the a erage blood pressure in mm $g of the -ourth #eriod &natomy )lass. The a erage systolic blood pressure for a 49 year old was 44:mm $g 18 mmHg. The average diastolic blood pressure for a 16 year old was 68mm Hg 19mm Hg. The systolic range was 90mmHg to 1 0mmHg. The diastolic range was !0 mmHg to 8"mmHg. The average systolic blood pressure for a 1# year old was 11$mm Hg 1 mm Hg. The average diastolic blood pressure for a 1# year old was 6!mm Hg 8mm Hg. The systolic range was 89mmHg to 1"1mmHg. The diastolic range was # mm Hg to 8$mm Hg. The average systolic blood pressure for an 18 year old was 119mm Hg 8 mm Hg. The average diastolic blood pressure for an 18 year old was #1mmHg 8mmHg. The systolic range was 110mmHg to 1!$mmHg. The diastolic range was 60 mmHg to 80mmHg. Table 2 shows the effect of gender on the average blood pressure in mm Hg of the %ourth &eriod 'natomy (lass. The average systolic blood pressure for females was 110mm Hg 1! mm Hg. The average diastolic blood pressure for females was 6 mm Hg 1! mm Hg. The systolic range for females was 89 mm Hg to 1 0 mm Hg. The diastolic range for females was !0 mm Hg to 8 mm Hg. The average systolic blood pressure for males was 1$$ mm Hg 1! mm Hg. The average systolic blood pressure for males was 1$$mm Hg 1! mm Hg. The average diastolic blood pressure for males was 69 mm Hg 8 mm Hg. The systolic range for males was 108 mm Hg to 1"1 mm Hg. The diastolic range for males was 60 mm Hg to 80 mm Hg. Table 3 shows the effect of acti ity and body position on the a erage blood pressure in mm $g of the -ourth #eriod &natomy )lass. The a erage systolic pressure for sitting was 445 mm $g 1 mm Hg. The average diastolic blood pressure for sitting was 66 mm Hg 11 mm Hg. The systolic range for sitting was 89 mm Hg to 1"1 mm Hg. The diastolic range for sitting was !0 mm Hg to 8" mm Hg. The average systolic pressure for standing was 11# mm Hg 1" mm Hg. The average diastolic blood pressure for sitting was #$ mm Hg 10 mm Hg. The systolic range for sitting was 98 mm Hg to 180 mm Hg. The diastolic range for sitting was "$ mm Hg to 89 mm Hg. The average systolic pressure after e)ercise was 1$9 mm Hg 1# mm Hg. The average diastolic blood pressure after e)cise was 80 mm Hg 10 mm Hg. The systolic range after e)ercise was 10$ mm Hg to 160 mm Hg. The diastolic range after e)ercise was 68 mm Hg to 106 mm Hg. The average systolic pressure for supine was 109 mm Hg 1" mm Hg. The average diastolic blood pressure for supine was 6 mm Hg 1$ mm Hg. The systolic range for supine was #" mm Hg to 1 6 mm Hg. The diastolic range for supine was !0 mm Hg to 8" mm Hg.

Discussion and Conclusion:

%ur experimental ob(ecti es included listening to the human heart sounds and describing them! correlating the human heart sound with mechanical e ents of the cardiac cycle! becoming familiar with the materials and their use in approximating

systemic arterial blood pressure! and approximating1recording systemic arterial blood pressure and the factors that influenced it. %ur o erall purpose was to measure the effect of age! gender! and body position! and exercising had on the blood pressure of the -ourth #eriod &natomy class. *e used the stethoscope! watch! and sphygmomanometer to determine the systolic and diastolic blood pressure when sitting! standing! after exercise! and supine. %n a erage our class had a systolic blood pressure of 44;.8: mm $g 4:.8: mm $g! and diastolic blood pressure of ;6.: mm $g 46.;: mm $g. It was found to ha e a normal distribution. %n a erage females had a systolic blood pressure of 446 mm $g 43 mm $g! and a diastolic blood pressure of 95 mm $g 43 mm $g. It was found that female's blood pressure had a normal distribution. %n a erage males had a systolic blood pressure of 488 mm $g 43 mm $g! and a diastolic blood pressure of 9< mm $g = mm $g. It was found that male's blood pressure had a normal distribution. %n a erage people standing had a systolic pressure of 44; mm $g 4: mm $g! and a diastolic blood pressure of ;8 mm $g 46 mm $g. It was found that people standing had a normal distribution. %n a erage people sitting had a systolic pressure of 445 mm $g 45 mm $g! and a diastolic blood pressure o 99 mm$g 44 mm $g. %n a erage people supine had a systolic blood pressure of 46< mm $g 4: mm $g! and a diastolic blood pressure of 95 mm $g 48 mm $g. %n a erage people after exercise had a systolic blood pressure of 48< mm $g 4; mm $g! and a diastolic blood pressure of =6 mm $g 46 mm $g. Significance of findings Males had a higher blood pressure. %n a erage females had a systolic blood pressure of 446 mm $g > 43 mm $g! and a diastolic blood pressure of 95 mm $g > 43 mm $g. %n a erage males had a systolic blood pressure of 488 mm $g > 43 mm $g! and a diastolic blood pressure of 9< mm $g > = mm $g. This is due to the fact. Before age ::! men ha e a greater chance of ha ing high blood pressure. *omen are more li"ely to ha e high blood pressure after menopause (,ec"elhoff). The 4= year olds of fourth period seemed to ha e higher blood pressure according to the data collected which supports ,ec"elhoff. The a erage systolic blood pressure of 4= year olds was 44< mm $g = mm $g. The a erage diastolic blood pressure of 4= year olds was ;4 mm $g = mm $g.

$ypertension is high blood pressure. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of arteries as it flows through them. &rteries are the blood essels that carry oxygenated blood from the heart to the body?s tissues. Though the exact causes of hypertension are usually un"nown! there are se eral factors that ha e been highly associated with the condition. These include. smo"ing! obesity or being o erweight! diabetes! sedentary lifestyle! lac" of physical acti ity! high le els of salt inta"e (sodium sensiti ity). &lso insufficient calcium! potassium! and magnesium consumption! itamin @ deficiency! high le els of alcohol consumption! stress! aging! medicines such as birth control pills! and genetics are factors (NordA ist). &therosclerosis is a slow disease in which your arteries become clogged and hardened. The effects of atherosclerosis differ depending upon which arteries in the body narrow and become clogged with plaAue. If the arteries that bring oxygen2rich blood to your heart are affected! you may ha e coronary artery disease! chest pain! or a heart attac". If the arteries to your brain are affected! you may ha e a transient ischemic attac" (TI&) or a stro"e. If the arteries in your arms or legs are affected! you may de elop peripheral artery disease. +ou may also de elop a bulge in the artery wall BaneurysmC (DMM)). &rteriosclerosis is a condition wherein there is hardening and loss of elasticity of the arteries. It can affect blood pressure by increasing the wor"load of the heart. Since the arteries are no longer elastic! it would reAuire greater pumping action to allow the blood to pass through the artery. $igh blood pressure damages arteries so they burst or clog more easily. $igh blood pressure can damage arteries throughout the body. *ea"ened arteries in the brain put you at much higher ris" for stro"e. $igh blood pressure damages the arteries and can create wea" places that rupture easily or thin spots that fill up with blood and balloon out from the artery wall (&merican $eart &ssociation). & heart attac" occurs when a clot or spasm bloc"s an already narrowed coronary artery. 7eft without oxygen! the portion of the heart muscle ser ed by the bloc"ed artery is in(ured. $igh blood pressure increases the ris" of coronary artery disease (also called atherosclerosis).)oronary artery disease is the buildup of plaAue or fatty matter in the walls of the coronary arteriesE this buildup leads to narrowing of the arteries o er time. The narrowed artery limits or bloc"s the flow of blood to the heart muscle. The hardened surface of the artery can also encourage the formation of small blood clots ()le eland )linic). &n aneurysm occurs when part of a blood essel (artery) or cardiac chamber swells! 2 either the blood essel is damaged or there is a wea"ness in the wall of the blood essel. Increased blood pressure can cause your blood essels to wea"en and bulge! forming an aneurysm. If an aneurysm ruptures! it can be life2threatening(Mayo )linic Staff). & pulmonary embolism is a blood clot that forms in a ein! tra els through your bloodstream! and lodges in your lungs. If your lung arteries become bloc"ed by a blood clot! you may experience high blood pressure in your lungs. &s a result! your heart pumps harder

than usual. *hen your heart is continually o erwor"ed! it may enlarge! and it may e entually fail to perform. To pre ent high blood pressure and1or treat any diseases that may ha e occurred because of it! it is recommended that you should Auit smo"ing! lose weight if you are o erweight! exercise regularly! eat well2balanced! nutritious meals that are low in fat! cholesterol! and salt! and high in fresh fruits and egetablesF! limit alcoholic be erages to no more than one ounce of pure alcohol or two drin"s per day! ta"e medicines that are prescribed! and undergo any surgery to remo e clots! etc.

Works Cited:
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Oascular *eb. /#ulmonary Hmbolism0. 44 No ember 866<. http.11www. ascularweb.org1 ascularhealth1#ages1pulmonary2embolism.aspx