Blood pressure
 

I came across this chart of blood pressure parameters,

http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/medi...sure-chart.gif

which indicates optimal BP in the band from 120/80.

I thought that after exercise one's BP would go up, but according to this chart, BP after strenuous exercise is at the lower end of this scale, at 110/70.

If this is correct, and I assume it is, why?

Oh gawd. where do I start ?

Start by telling me how I felt fine with an 80 over 40.


To save time, I'll say they bought in another electronic device cos of their incredulity. It read the same. Incredulity is a bit like denial, it requires lots of prods with someone else's stick. They got a fine old barometric device out - I bet it even had a sylphon somewhere in its works - and yep, 80 over 40.

My goodness, I don't suppose I've written sylphon for 50 years.

I'll stop now, cos the wine is probably making me silly on a sensible forum, but I promise you, it was 80 over 40.

I have white coat syndrome. Means my BP goes up whenever I'm near a doctor or anyone in a white coat. I know, because I've measured it at home over time. I hate being around them and hospitals. So I normally read too high unless I come in right after exercise. What I normally do is jump on my bicycle and cycle to the medical whenever I need to renew. Works well.

Loose rivets

You are normal. Unusual but normal. And not that rare. Put bluntly, unless you have been run over by a bus and are bleeding to death, a low blood pressure is GOOD and nothing to worry about (OK there are some very rare diseases such as Addisons but they make you very unwell and kill you very quickly - you havent got them)

the chart is c@@@. Some people have more time than sense. If the lower blood pressure - diastolic - starts with anything up to an 8 (so 74, 87 etc) that is fine. A 9 or more needs a doctor. Some big studies have shown a benefit of treating high 80s but .......

The only bit of the chart worth taking note of is

reduce salt
lose weight if overweight
moderate exercise may help

so do this and take your blood pressure at home if you have white coat syndrome. We dont mind if it goes up and down - it is the LOWEST reading when you are resting that is important

otherwise see your doctor and if he puts you on a tablet or so and controls your blood pressure your risk factors come back almost to normal.

That is about it!

Another MD here, completely agreeing with Homonculus.

That chart is for the obsessive-compulsives. "The personal thoughts of the author" as the footnote states.

Be happy when BP is not high, take some Rx if it's a too high. And get on with life.

I wish you wouldn't put these charts up. Since digesting it, I have had chest pains and heart palpitations!!!

Reminds me of the time, years ago when I was on a bush contract in Africa. Someone bought a comprehensive medical book down with him. We all read ourselves sick within a week!!

Eat Celery
 

Eat one stalk of celery a day. Look it up on the internet on the how/why it works.

It's important to take elevated blood pressure seriously, but it is only part of the cardiovascular risk bigger picture, (lipid's/smoking/weight/exercise etc).

The chart is useful Tableview, and contains some useful stuff around lifestyle. Pilot's will love it, the figure looks like something out of a PPL training manual.

I'm not sure if it's that useful to place "classifications" on levels. (Although NICE do.) And how useful is a "snapshot" figure? Average home reading's or ambulatory reading's are probably more useful.

The stuff around low blood pressure is confusing to say the least.

Celery anyone...pass the salt.:)

Well I was edging into the severe until I put on a couple of drugs for it. Now it's comfortably within the optimum. Irritating that particularly since my lifestyle didn't reflect the usual causes. I hate to think how bad I'd have been if I had been smoking and overeating fatty and salty foods for all those years.

Such is life.

Interesting to see the chart in this format. It backs up what my AME indicated at my last medical less than a month ago, that under EASA anything above 140 was an automatic fail (class 2).

This looks more like a W&B for a PA28... :ok:

I thought it was 160?

I don't know what it is other than what the AME said, curiously it coincides with the chart going in to the red region.

Any AME wish to verify?

It used to be your age over a TON! Nice the Ton bit as that coincided with the speed you loose your licence on a motorway ;)
Then it all changed as the drug companies wanted more and more people on blood pressure lowering drugs for life and employed scientists to build their case.
Really its still not understood! Is not a constant thing and GPs love to have something to measure :ok:
Exercise dilates tight, stressed, blood vessels and hence after the exercise the pressure goes lower.
A natural pill which does work (If you can afford it is Alistrol) Taken for six weeks before your medical and you will be amazed at the readings you get.
The highest blood pressure readings I ever got was when I was 28, through the roof!!! 30 years later still get first class meds drug free!
Wish the drug companies would put more of their $Billions into finding cures and understanding conditions rather than turning out yet more damaging drugs for us to take and for them to sell!

I don't know why, but it is correct.
Years ago I was cycling 200-300km/week. My resting heart rate was 45 and bp was 140/90. I was extremely fit. My cycling mate's wife, a nurse, started testing our bp immediately on our return and diastolic was always lower - 70-80. My mates was much lower, as he has almost hypotension - feints if he stands up quickly.

When my bp was in its normal range, my GP always kept an eye on it, because "it's borderline high for a bloke your age." When I retired (from both work and cycling), diastolic dropped slightly, but sadly, he informed me that they'd also redefined normal.

Pace: Wish the drug companies would put more of their $Billions into finding cures and understanding conditions rather than turning out yet more damaging drugs for us to take and for them to sell!

Self-defeating business case?

Pace

Drug companies exist to develop drugs. Major medical research centres exist to find cures. Do stop this silly campaign - drug companies have saved far more lives than doctors, albeit making a lot of money along the way. We would all love to find more cures just as I would like someone to develop a helicopter I ncan fly for less than the cost of a car, or a way to live to be 200

As for allistrol - the FDA are going bonkers about illegalities etc. Can you show me any clinical trials, any studies into side effects and riskes etc? By all means take what you like but please dont encourage others without showing us the evidence

UK CAA Rules here..

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/2499/Hypertension%20FC.pdf

so no, >140/90 is not a fail, but does need a follow up 24 hr ambulatory BP for class 1 within 2 months. Home readings may be acceptable for class 2.

>160/95 means you don't go away with your certificate on the day.

Also, if you are taking it solely prior to your medical and if it is bringing down your blood pressure then that implies that for the rest of the time you are hypertensive with all the nasty possibilities that implies, including collapsing with a stroke whilst flying. :*