Understanding Arterial Blood Pressure

When we hear about blood pressure we normally just think of the cuff that is placed on our arm at the doctor’s office. When you have your blood pressure taken your doctor is actually taking you arterial blood pressure. This is the pressure against the walls of the artery either when the heart beats or in between beats. When blood pressure is too high it can cause thickening of the walls of the arteries which can cause many different health problems such as heart attack, kidney problems, vision problems, and even stroke. Arterial blood pressure can also go too low, which can cause dizziness, nausea, and fainting.

More on Arterial Blood Pressure

Most of the time when you have your arterial blood pressure taken it is a very non-invasive procedure. The doctor or nurse will simply put the blood pressure cuff on your arm, pump it up with air, and then report the reading to you. This is a very good way to get a blood pressure reading, but there are some instances when using an external blood pressure monitor is not enough. In these cases a doctor will measure the arterial blood pressure with an arterial line.

An arterial line is created by placing a cannula needle in an artery, such as he radial, femoral, dorsalis pedis, or brachial. This procedure is usually done by a doctor in a hospital setting and is often used to get a very accurate blood pressure reading during surgery or when a doctor cannot seem to get accurate readings using an external monitoring device.

Normal arterial blood pressure reading are a systolic pressure of 120 mmHG and a diastolic reading of 80 mmHg. When a doctor tells you what your blood pressure is in this case, they would tell you that your blood pressure is 120 over 80. The 120 measurement is the pressure in the arteries when the heart is beating and the 80 is the measurement of the pressure between heartbeats. Normally the second number is always going to be lower, at least in healthy adults.

Healthy adults should have their arterial blood pressure taken at least once every two years. If you have had incidence of high blood pressure you will need to get your blood pressure taken more often. Your doctor may recommend getting your own home monitoring device which will allow you to take your blood pressure outside the presence of a doctor, which can affect readings.