Blood Pressure and Heart Rate

Many people mistakenly believe that their blood pressure and heart rate are the same thing. The fact of the matter is that your blood pressure and heart rate are very different, though they are related. You need a heart rate to have a blood pressure, but your heart rate is not necessarily indicative of your blood pressure.

The Relationship Between Blood Pressure and Heart Rate

Blood pressure and heart rate are related because the heart rate is the number of times the heart beats per minute and the blood pressure is the force of blood against the walls of the arteries. When your doctor tells you about your blood pressure they are going to give you two numbers. The first number is the systolic pressure and the second number is the diastolic number. The systolic blood pressure is the amount of pressure in the arteries when the heart actually beats while the diastolic blood pressure is the pressure in the walls of the arteries between heartbeats. The systolic number is written on top and the diastolic on bottom, so if a person had a systolic of 120 and a diastolic of 80 it would be written as 120/80 or said 120 over 80. An adult has a healthy or normal blood pressure that is less than 120 mm systolic and 80 mm diastolic.

Your heart rate and your blood pressure are related because if your heart simply stopped beating your blood pressure would be zero. While this is true, just because your heart rate speeds up doesn’t mean that your blood pressure will increase by the same rate that your heart rate does. When the heart rate goes up, your blood vessels will dilate so as to allow more blood to flow with less effort. For instance, when you are exercising your heart rate may come close or even double, but your blood pressure will not, it will only go up a bit. While the relationship definitely exists between the blood pressure and the heart rate, they are definitely not the same thing!

When you visit your doctor and they take your blood pressure, they usually also get a heart rate. Next time you visit your doctor you should ask them for this information. For instance, your heart rate may also be 68 but your blood pressure may be 120/80. The correlation exists between the two, but when you look at the numbers you will find that they are completely separate of one another.