In medicine, abnormally low blood pressure is known as hypotension. However, it must be known that;
Hypotension (unlike hypertension) is NOT a disease; it is just an abnormal physiologic state of the body.
In other words, blood pressure is the amount of force that is required to pump blood through the walls of the arteries. If it is lower than the normal range, a patient is said to have low blood pressure.
If we want to classify hypotension according to the quantitative definition, it is the state when the systolic blood pressure is less than 90 mm of mercury (mm Hg), or if the diastolic blood pressure of less than 60 mm of mercury (60 mm Hg).
The scenario is different when clinical practice comes into consideration. This is because many of us, particularly women have a blood pressure of 90/60 mm Hg, but they will not be showing symptoms of low blood pressure. For many, even 90/60 mm Hg appears to be perfectly normal. So more than blood pressure, we focus more on the symptoms that the patient is presenting.
What is the cardinal symptom which may tell you that you have hypotension?
Dizziness!
Dizziness or in simple words, lightheadedness, is a common and unpleasant sensation when a person feels that he/she is about to faint. The person may feel that the room is spinning.
Remember that if you think that you are going through a hypo-state, you will be in a state where the blood pressure will be too low to be provided to your organs like heart, brain and kidneys. Hence, a patient faces dizziness and symptoms such as ‘falling down’.
The likelihood of having a hypotensive episode increases after eating food, in hot environments, after consuming alcohol, or some endocrine (hormonal) disorder in your body such as Addison’s Disease.
Hypotension must be properly treated otherwise it may prove hazardous to the organs (mentioned above) to which it is not providing adequate oxygenation and nutrients.
It is due to the reduced blood volume (Hypovolemia) that makes you develop hypotension. This can result because of any type of hemorrhage, blood loss, insufficient fluid intake, as seen in starvation, or due to the fluid losses in diarrhea and vomiting. Often, the drugs that you might be taking for your elevated blood pressure (if you are a hypertensive) may themselves prove to be the risk factor for bringing you into a hypo-tensive state.
Always remember, that there might be some cause for your hypotension. Therefore, the treatment of hypotension depends upon treating the cause of hypotension. If you are facing hypotensive attacks on regular basis, try to add more electrolytes, like salt in your diet. Additionally, drink large quantity of water in order to maintain your blood volume.
Here, focus has been made to provide more knowledge to people with low blood pressure. From this page, you can navigate to the main topics which will be focusing on various aspects of low blood pressure.
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