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Low blood pressure or ‘Hypotension’ is a medical condition where the blood pressure of a person falls below 90 mm Hg systolic and 60 mm Hg diastolic. Low BP can cause inadequate blood supply to various major organs of the body like the brain, eyes, etc leading to symptoms of hypotension. It can also be caused by various causes including dehydration, heart condition, pregnancy, etc. Low BP is a serious illness until someone starts experiencing severe symptoms.
Key Terms: Blood Pressure, Hypotension, Hypertension, Systolic and Diastolic Pressure, Heart, Blood
What is Blood Pressure?
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Blood Pressure or BP is the pressure by which your heart pumps out the oxygenated blood each time it pumps. There are two types of measures of blood pressure; systolic and diastolic pressure. Blood pressure can be measured by an instrument that is known as a sphygmomanometer.
Systolic pressure refers to the average pressure in your arteries when the heart pumps out blood. While diastolic pressure is the average pressure in your arteries in between two heartbeats, or when the heart is resting between the beats.
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What is Hypotension?
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Hypotension or low blood pressure (low BP) is a condition where a person's blood pressure falls below 90 mmHg systolic and 60 mmHg diastolic (or 90/60 mmHg). The normal blood pressure of a healthy adult is considered to be 120/80 mmHg. The blood pressure falls as a result of which the vital organs of our body receive inadequate blood supply. Reduced blood supply to the brain causes dizziness, or may even cause black-out, the person can faint. Usually, hypotension of low blood pressure is not a serious concern if it does not cause any severe symptoms.
Low Blood Pressure
Types of Low Blood Pressure
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There are majorly 4 types of low blood pressure. Each of them has a different cause. Some of them are of serious concern, while others can happen to anyone.
- Orthostatic or Postural Hypotension: It can happen to anyone at any time. It is usually triggered by a sudden change in posture or position. Like when a person stands up suddenly from a lying position. We all have experienced this at some point. It causes a bit of dizziness, blurred vision, and even fainting.
- Postprandial Hypotension: Postprandial hypotension happens an hour or two after meals. It is more common in older people mostly. It happens because after a meal the flow is more tended towards your digestive tract.
- Neurally Mediated Hypotension: This is caused by standing for long periods. It affects young adults or children mostly.
- Severe Hypotension: It is a comparatively rare occurrence. It is also called Shy-Drager syndrome. It is caused by damage in the nervous system that controls blood pressure. Vital organs of the body fail to function properly due to a lack of blood flow.
Symptoms of Low Blood Pressure
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Symptoms can vary from person to person. Every person has different blood pressure readings. The symptoms of low BP include:
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Blurred vision
- Nausea
- Lack of concentration
- Fatigue
- Difficulty in breathing
- Stiff neck
- Headache
- Vomiting
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Causes of Low Blood Pressure
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The cause of low blood pressure can be a temporary reason, or it can be a sign of underlying infection. Following are the conditions that can cause hypotension:
- Dehydration: Dehydration can cause dizziness, weakness, and fatigue. Due to excess loss of salts from the blood, the blood pressure falls rapidly.
- Excess Blood Loss: It can be due to either internal blood loss or due to external injury. The amount of blood reduces within a short span of time.
- Pregnancy: Pregnancy can cause low blood pressure due to rapid expansion in the circulatory system.
- Heart Disease: Underlying heart disease is very likely to cause fluctuations in blood pressure levels. Heart conditions like bradycardia are likely to cause hypotension in patients.
- Severe Infection: Septic shock caused by bacterial infection can lead to fatal drops in blood pressure.
- Nutrition: Deficiency of Vitamin B12 can also lead to drops in blood pressure.
- Severe Allergic Reaction: Anaphylaxis can cause potentially life-threatening drops in blood pressure levels.
- Pericarditis: Caused by inflammation in pericardium causing difficulty in heart pumping.
Treatments of Low Blood Pressure
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Blood pressure levels that do not cause any symptoms or very mild symptoms do not require any medical treatment. Such people can maintain certain practises and keep a check on their blood pressure levels.
If you have any severe symptoms of hypotension you should immediately visit a doctor.
In case of mild symptoms, the following treatments can be used to bring back the blood pressure to an average level:
- Include More Salt in Your Meal: A drop in sodium level in our blood can cause low blood pressure. So, if you are experiencing mild symptoms of low BP, then you should include more salt in your food.
- Drink More Water: As already listed above in the cause of low BP, dehydration can cause drops in blood pressure levels, so drinking more water helps in bringing blood pressure levels to normal.
- Medication: There are medicines that can treat low blood pressure like fludrocortisone drugs are often prescribed by doctors. It works by increasing blood volume.
- Including More Vitamin B12 Rich Food in Your Diet: Vitamin B deficiency can cause low BP in young adults.
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Things to Remember
- Low blood pressure, also known as hypotension, is a medical condition when the blood pressure of a person drops below 90/60 mmHg.
- The normal blood pressure level of a healthy adult is around 120/80 mmHg.
- In most cases, hypotension does not require any medical treatment.
- Eating more salt, more water, and proper nutrition can help you to avoid sudden drops in blood pressure.
Sample Questions
Ques. What is the difference between hypotension and hypertension? (3 marks)
Ans. Hypotension is a condition where blood pressure level is below 90/60 mmHg. Whereas hypertension is the condition where the blood pressure level is above 140/90 mmHg. Both of them can be a sign of underlying heart disease. hypertension is caused by constricted Blood Vessels or any kind of blockage in the artery. Symptoms of hypotension include dizziness, headache, blurred vision, fainting, lack of concentration, etc. Symptoms of hypertension include excessive sweating, dizziness, nose bleeding, chest pain, difficulty in breathing, etc.
Ques. What are systolic and diastolic pressure? (3 marks)
Ans. As our heart beats, it pushes out blood through the arteries with some pressure.
- Systolic pressure is defined as the average blood pressure in the aorta and the pulmonary artery when the heart pumps blood. The normal range is systolic pressure is 100-140 mmHg.
- Diastolic pressure is measured when the heart is at rest, meaning when it is not beating, or in between the beats. It is defined as the average pressure in the arteries in between the beats. The normal range of diastolic pressure is 60-80 mmHg.
- Systolic blood pressure is always higher than diastolic because our heart pushes out blood through the arteries forcefully, by contracting the cardiac muscles.
Ques. What is the significance of normal diastolic pressure and low systolic pressure? (3 marks)
Ans. Systolic pressure indicates the average blood pressure when the heart pumps. A lower than the normal value of systolic reading can mean your heart is somehow not able to pump properly. This can lead to an irregular heartbeat.
Whereas diastolic pressure refers to the blood pressure when the heart is not pumping, that is in between beats. So if a person has a normal diastolic reading and a little lower than normal systolic reading it is nothing to worry about.
Ques. What causes simultaneous low blood pressure and high heart rate? (3 marks)
Ans. Simultaneous low blood pressure and high heart rate can mean your blood volume is on the lower side. This is called hypovolemia. It can be caused by severe blood loss, dehydration, anaemia, etc. Lack of vitamin B12 causes such symptoms due to the lack of enough RBCs in the body. Iron supplements and vitamin B12 are helpful in such cases.
Ques. What causes dizziness and blurred vision in hypotension? (3 marks)
Ans. Dizziness is a feeling where a person feels weak, unsteady, and confused. It is a major symptom of low blood pressure. Dizziness and blurred vision are among the most common symptoms of low BP. This is caused by the inadequate blood supply to the brain. It is most common in orthostatic hypotension, when a person stands up suddenly gravity pulls down the blood causing less blood supply to the head and hence the brain. This happens when the blood vessels fail to constrict rapidly as the person stands up. This condition is called orthostatic hypotension, or postural hypotension.
Ques. People suffering from hypotension often pass insufficient urine. Give a reason. (4 marks)
Ans. Persons who suffer from unusually low blood pressure often do not pass sufficient urine. This is because sufficient pressure is required to pass blood through the glomerulus of nephrons in the kidney. When the blood pressure is too low, blood would not flow sufficiently through the glomerulus, and hence filtration will not occur properly. As a result of which, urine is not formed sufficiently. This can cause severe harm to our body because discarding waste products is very essential. So people who suffer from low blood pressure are recommended to drink sufficient water, to maintain normal blood pressure.
Ques. How to prevent blood pressure from falling? (2 marks)
Ans. Blood pressure can be maintained at normal levels for people suffering from hypotension. One can make lifestyle changes to help with hypotension symptoms. Some of the ways that prevent blood pressure from falling, and maintain a healthy blood pressure level are including more salt in your meal, drinking more water, exercising daily, and medication, including more vitamin B12 rich food in your diet.
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