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Blood pressure is the measurement of the force of blood pushing against
the walls of the arteries. Arterial blood pressure is constantly uctuating
during the course of the cardiac cycle. The highest pressure in the cycle
is called the systolic blood pressure, and represents the pressure in the
artery when the heart is beating. The lowest pressure is the diastolic
blood pressure, and represents the pressure in the artery when the heart
is at rest. Both the systolic and the diastolic pressure are necessary for a
physician to evaluate the status of a patient's blood pressure.
Many factors such as physical activity, anxiety or the time of day, can
influence your blood pressure. Blood pressure is typically low in the
mornings and increases from the afternoon to the evening. It is on
average lower in the summer and higher in the winter.
Having one's blood pressure measured by a doctor in a hospital or
a clinic, is often associated with a phenomenon called "White Coat
Hypertension" where the patient becomes nervous or anxious, thus
raising his blood pressure. There are also numerous other factors that
might cause your blood pressure to be raised at a specic time of day.
Why is it useful to measure blood pressure at home?
What is blood pressure?
About Blood Pressure
