For each person, there are certain norms of blood pressure at which good health remains. Most experts believe that the systolic indicator should be within limited limits, and the diastolic indicator can correspond to individual values. In connection with this, low pressure is considered to be one in which the indicators decrease below the limit that is the physiological norm. As a rule, hypotension is recorded at 100/60 mm. rt. Art. However, for some, blood pressure of 80 over 60 is not considered low. Can low blood pressure values be a physiological norm, and what complications can they provoke?
What do the indicators mean?
Blood pressure of 80 over 60 is considered low and can be found in 20% of people nowadays. Hypotension affects people of different ages and gender. If such indicators often bother you, it means that your vascular tone is reduced.
In pregnant women
While waiting for your baby to be born, monitoring your blood pressure is very important. A decrease in blood pressure in a woman can be caused by the same pregnancy. Severe hypotension is very dangerous for pregnant women. It can cause miscarriage, the development of toxicosis, and disruption of uterine contractions during childbirth.
In adults and older people
Low pressure may be associated with working underground in conditions of high humidity. Arterial hypotension can also be found in people involved in sports, since the cause is uneven increased physical activity.
If a person is hypotensive from a young age, then low blood pressure in old age is also considered normal. In 45% of cases, the cause of hypotension is internal bleeding, which is life-threatening for an elderly person.
In children and adolescents
Typically, blood pressure levels in children are slightly lower than in adults. It all depends on age. But the tonometer can show 80/60 mmHg. Art. for infectious diseases, vegetative-vascular dystonia, hormonal fluctuations, as well as in young girls during menstrual bleeding.
Why is low blood pressure dangerous?
This pathological condition does not pose a direct threat to human life. But if hypotension is observed for a long time, then compensatory mechanisms are activated aimed at eliminating changes in blood pressure. In the future, this leads to the formation of hypertensive status, which develops after some time. According to experts, hypotension in youth provokes the development of hypertension in old age.
Secondary hypotension, in which there is a systematic disturbance of blood circulation in vital organs, becomes the cause of serious dysfunction.
Hypotension leads to the development of the following complications:
- decreased visual function;
- impairment of motor coordination as a result of disruption of the vestibular apparatus;
- risk of injury in a fainting state;
- cardiac disorder;
- decrease in the speed of brain processes.
The presence of hidden pathologies in the body may indicate severe pathologies. Hypotension is an early sign of internal bleeding, heart attack, hypothyroidism, and anaphylactic shock. Low blood pressure may be one of the manifestations of autonomic dysfunction of the nervous system.
Symptoms and signs
- General weakness - poor health, absent-mindedness, apathy.
- Sleep problems - insufficient and poor sleep, difficult awakening).
- Nausea and even vomiting.
- The occurrence of shortness of breath.
- Dizziness, including when changing position from lying to sitting.
- Increased sweating.
- Headache.
- Deterioration of cardiac activity.
- As a rule, hypotensive patients complain of freezing and numbness of the limbs
Symptoms: Blood pressure 80 to 60 mmHg. Art.
Arterial hypotension is very easy to recognize by external signs. Patients have one very important distinguishing feature: their behavior is sluggish, their movements are leisurely, and their speech is mostly slow. All these manifestations of ill health that accompany hypotension often do not allow one to live with a high quality of performance, reduce overall activity and make everyday life difficult.
Let's take a closer look at the main symptoms of hypotension.
- General weakness of the body, in which a person experiences a lack of strength, absent-mindedness, gets tired very quickly at the slightest exertion, and is susceptible to apathy.
- Sleep disturbance is also a sign of hypotension: a person feels a constant lack of sleep, has difficulty waking up, and is constantly in a half-asleep, lethargic state.
- Headache localized in the back of the head and temples. Often this fairly ordinary pain turns into a migraine, accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
- Dark circles appearing before the eyes. This symptom manifests itself when there is a sudden change in the position of a person’s body. For example, when he quickly moves from a sitting position to a vertical position. In this state, you can easily faint.
- Impaired cognitive function. With constantly reduced pressure, memory deterioration, fine psychomotor coordination disorder, and attention dissipation occur.
- Shortness of breath that occurs due to cardiac dysfunction at low blood pressure. This is followed by tachycardia, which is observed even in a calm state without any physical activity.
- Cold extremities. Since blood circulates slowly at low pressure, the patient experiences constant numbness in his arms and legs.
It is worth saying that an important factor leading to changes in blood pressure is also changes in weather conditions. Hypotonics, like hypertensives, react very sharply to changes in atmospheric conditions and are a weather-dependent contingent.
Another aggravating factor that is associated with hypotension is bradycardia: a slowing of the heart rate, resulting in a lack of oxygen to the brain.
Reasons for falling blood pressure
- anemia;
- blood loss;
- closed craniocerebral injury;
- diabetes;
- severe intoxication;
- previous operations;
- physical exercise;
- change in weather conditions;
- hunger, lack of sleep;
- underweight;
- myocardial infarction;
- in pregnant women - the body’s reaction to an increased amount of progesterone.
And also read on our website: What do blood pressure readings of 160 over 60 mean - causes, symptoms and what to do?
In children
- various chronic diseases;
- diets and weight loss;
- hormonal imbalances;
- genetic predisposition;
- stressful situations;
- lack of vitamins;
- anemia;
- bleeding.
In older people
Problems with blood pressure are not uncommon among the older generation. With age, the body becomes vulnerable to pathologies. As it changes, another hormonal change occurs, and the pressure begins to jump. This can also happen during physical activity, lack of oxygen, beneficial nutrients and vitamins.
In pregnant women
- stressful situations;
- lack of sleep;
- overwork;
- colds;
- hunger and dehydration;
- sudden change of position;
- heavy bleeding;
- infectious diseases.
Reasons for a short-term decrease in pressure
Blood pressure is not a static indicator. It changes every second. At a certain point, a sharp decrease in the indicator may occur, down to critical levels.
No one is immune from a one-time decrease in blood pressure, but in most cases this situation does not indicate pathological processes and, strictly speaking, is not hypotension.
Why does the pressure level drop:
- Excessive fatigue of the body. As a result of intense experiences and long work, a large amount of stress hormones are released: cortisol, adrenaline, norepinephrine, catecholamines and other substances. They provoke a narrowing of the lumen of large and small vessels, and then their sharp expansion. That is, the pressure in the arteries first rises quickly, and then drops just as rapidly. Not only is this unpleasant, but also dangerous: sudden changes affect the quality and elasticity of blood supply structures, and also increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
- Physical exercise. This is a classic situation when pressure rises sharply, and after intense physical activity drops (at the moment the body relaxes). A large amount of the same known substances is produced.
- Bradycardia of various origins. It is a reduction in the number of heart beats of less than 60 beats in a certain period of time (usually per minute). A similar phenomenon is observed with an excess of drugs for the treatment of hypertension, also due to various diseases of the cardiovascular and nervous systems. Other factors are also possible. The fact is that with bradycardia there is a disturbance in the ejection of blood, and both systolic and diastolic pressure changes.
- Sudden change in body position. Typically, blood pressure drops as a result of standing up from a lying or sitting position. The circulation of hematological fluid is disrupted. Therefore, if the pressure drops to 60 to 40, this could be the reason.
Much more dangerous is persistent hypotension, which develops as a primary or secondary pathology.
Treatment options
At home:
You can normalize blood pressure without turning to specialists using home folk remedies.
- Firstly, this is normal and complete sleep. If you don’t feel like you’re not getting enough sleep at night, add 1-2 hours of daytime sleep to your daily routine and you’ll immediately feel changes for the better.
- Secondly, reduce mental and physical stress, or alternate them. There is no need to overstrain your body and demand the impossible from it. Rest is one of the main parts of our life.
- Light morning exercise. A couple of exercises will not harm; on the contrary, it will warm up the muscles, improve blood circulation and increase vascular tone.
- Be sure to add foods such as cottage cheese, liver, pomegranate juice, black currants and carrots to your diet.
- A cup of hot black or green tea, herbal tinctures with shepherd's purse leaves, hawthorn, and mistletoe will also help increase low blood pressure.
- No matter how strange it may sound, a couple of drops of cognac will also help cope with the manifestations of hypotension. Just add it to tea or coffee and drink in small sips.
Causes of hypotension
Arterial hypotension is divided into several types:
- Primary, or idiopathic, hypotension;
- Secondary hypotension;
- Acute hypotension;
- Physiological hypotension.
Each of these types of hypotension has its own signs that characterize this disease. Secondary hypotension is classified as a separate group, since its formation is caused by health problems already existing in the human body.
Below we list diseases that can provoke hypotension.
- Anemia, which is characterized by a drop in the patient’s hemoglobin level, often accompanied by a decrease in the number of red blood cells per unit volume of blood.
- Hepatitis: a severe inflammatory liver disease that develops under the influence of the hepatitis-C virus.
- Osteochondrosis affecting the cervical spine. It appears as a result of a sedentary lifestyle and is characterized by damage to the intervertebral discs in this area.
- Pancreatitis: acute or chronic inflammation of the pancreas.
- Rheumatism. This inflammatory disease affects the connective tissue, including the lining of the heart.
- Diabetes. This is a dangerous disease of one of the main systems of the human body: the endocrine system. This disease occurs as a result of a lack of the hormone insulin.
- Tuberculosis. This is an infectious lung disease caused by different types of mycobacteria.
- Liver cirrhosis: a liver lesion in which its tissues die, gradually being replaced by fibrous fibers.
- Cystitis, also known as inflammation of the bladder.
- Stomach ulcer: a disease in which ulcerative wounds form and become chronic in the stomach and duodenum.
Other types of hypotension have the following triggers:
- Vegetovascular dystonia (VSD);
- Genetic inheritance;
- Endocrine system disorders, hypothyroidism;
- Neurotic conditions;
- Significant blood loss;
- Depression;
- Constant stress;
- Closed or open TBI;
- Decreased tone in blood vessels;
- Chronic heart failure;
- Chronic fatigue;
- Fainting;
- Abuse of antihypertensive drugs;
- First and second trimester of pregnancy.
Complications and consequences
A common complication of hypotension is oxygen starvation. It can be the main cause of deterioration in health, in particular, in brain function. This leads to memory impairment, migraines, and fainting.
And also read on our website: What do blood pressure readings of 110 to 110 mean - is this possible, the reasons, what to do and what to drink?
When the body's tone decreases, blood flow slows down. This means that oxygen and nutrients do not enter the cells. First of all, organs such as the heart, liver, brain, and so on are affected.
If oxygen does not enter the cell within a couple of minutes, it dies.
Insufficient blood supply to vital organs causes a cascade of interrelated pathological changes. The most dangerous of them are ischemic stroke and myocardial infarction. Senile dementia also appears, but poor blood supply to the brain can also develop dementia in younger people.
Due to disruption of the venous and arterial blood supply, the sensitivity of the arms and legs is impaired.
Low blood pressure in the elderly: hypotension
A sharp deterioration in general condition causes low blood pressure in an elderly person. Hypotension develops when blood pressure readings are below 100/60. It can be the result of a long stay in bed after an illness, surgery, poor nutrition, or taking medications that lower blood pressure. Weather, excessive emotional stress, nervous disorders, and acute blood loss affect health.
Signs of the disease:
- headache;
- weakness;
- noise, ringing in the ears;
- blurred vision (floaters before the eyes);
- fainting;
- feeling of chilliness in the limbs;
- cold sweat;
- blackout.
Without help, an ischemic stroke may occur or dementia may gradually set in.
Pulse
Typically, hypotension causes a decrease in heart rate. This is called bradycardia.
A pulse of 60–70 beats per minute is considered normal. The main reason for a low pulse at a pressure of 80/60 mm Hg. Art. is hypothermia. This is when the heart rate decreases and the body requires less oxygen.
Another factor for low heart rate is pregnancy. This happens if the enlarged uterus with the fetus puts strong pressure on the inferior vena cava.
In young people who play sports, moderate bradycardia is considered normal and does not cause significant concern.
A heart rate of 80 beats per minute is most common in thin teenagers, older adults, or petite girls. Such indicators are quite normal and are not considered a pathology.
Pulse 90–100. Increased pulse and low blood pressure occur with heavy blood loss. For example, if a person has lost a lot of blood during surgery or in case of injury, then the pressure drops and the pulse quickens.
A high heart rate is also observed in pregnant women. Most often this happens due to the fact that the volume of blood in the body increases due to the temporary functioning of the placental circulation.
Another cause of tachycardia is anaphylactic shock.
Types of blood pressure
Blood pressure is conventionally divided into lower or diastolic and upper, which is also called systolic.
The first shows with what force the blood is ejected at the limit of heart contraction, while the second indicates the strength of blood pressure during the pause between successive contractions.
These numbers, as well as the difference between them, provide a lot of information about the state of health and possible causes of hypotension.
Prevention
First of all, to avoid arterial hypotension, you need to lead a healthy lifestyle from a very young age. Be sure to strengthen the tone and increase the elasticity of blood vessels.
And also read on our website: What do blood pressure readings of 80 to 40 mean, what to do, reasons for the decrease and is it dangerous?
You also need to comply with the intake of vitamins and minerals. Once a year, be sure to take pills to eliminate vitamin deficiency.
Get a boost of energy and tone your body with a contrast shower. If you are not a fan of cold water, you can simply fill the bathtub with cool water and soak your feet in it.
Stick to a set daily routine. Try not to disturb your sleep, spend more time outdoors and don’t get overtired.
Go to the gym or exercise classes. Go for various massages and spa treatments.
Balance your diet. Eat small portions, 5-6 times a day.
Signs of low blood pressure
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A decrease in pressure to the level of 70 to 40 (70/50) may be accompanied by unpleasant symptoms. These include:
- general lethargy, drowsiness;
- poor memory and concentration;
- the occurrence of tinnitus or congestion;
- cold extremities, chilliness;
- sweating of palms and feet;
- “flies, stars” before the eyes;
- pain in the back of the head;
- dizziness;
- loss of consciousness;
- feeling of interruptions in heart rhythm.
In some cases, hypotension can cause digestive disorders, menstrual disorders in women, and erectile function in men.
Doctors are not inclined to consider hypotension an independent disease; it is classified as a symptom of internal pathologies of the body. Sometimes the cause of its occurrence cannot be determined. In this case, they talk about idiopathic hypotension.
