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Blood pressure is a two-number measurement of your heart's function. The top number is the systolic pressure, or the pressure of the blood within the vessels as your heart contracts. The bottom, or diastolic, number is the pressure of blood between the heartbeats, or when your heart rests and refills.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute sets the target range at less than 120/80.

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15y ago

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Not sure what the actual name of it is, but it measures the pressure your blood is at when your heart isn't actually pumping. The pressure between each pump. Blood Pressure Measurement In The Doctor's Office Here are the steps your health care provider should follow when taking your blood pressure measurement: * Your health care provider will probably use a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope to measure your blood pressure. The blood pressure cuff, also called a sphygmomanometer, consists of a cuff with an inflatable bladder, a rubber hand bulb with a valve used to inflate and deflate the cuff, and a pressure gauge. * First, the cuff is wrapped snugly around your upper arm. The cuff is then rapidly inflated until the pulse in the upper arm is no longer felt. At this point blood flow in the underlying blood vesselis cut off by pressure in the cuff. The health care provider will continue to inflate the cuff a bit beyond this point. * Next, a stethoscope is placed over the brachial artery at the elbow and the cuff is slowly deflated, while the health care provider listens for sounds produced by turbulent blood flow in the artery. * The health care provider listens through the stethoscope until he or she hears the heartbeats. At this point, cuff pressure matches pressure in the artery, and blood flow resumes. This is the systolic blood pressure (SBP). * The health care provider continues to slowly deflate the cuff until the sounds stop. This is the diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Experts recommend that two or more readings (separated by two minutes) be taken to determine an average blood pressure for the visit. If the first two readings differ by more than 5 mm Hg, additional readings should be obtained and averaged. Your doctor should tell you if your blood pressure should be measured again and/or if you should consider treatment for high blood pressure. == ==

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16y ago
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The bottom number represents the diastolic blood pressure reading, and is usually written as a fraction (for example: 120/80 or 120 over 80).

120 represents systolic blood pressure (this top number is always higher than the lower number).

80 represents diastoloc blood pressure (this is always the lowest number).

Systolic: Occurs when the heart contracts.

Diastolic: Occurs when the heart relaxes (the stage of rest where the heart refills with blood).

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15y ago
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the pressure in the heart during diastole (when it is not beating)

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15y ago
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?

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Anonymous

4y ago
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Q: What does the bottom number mean on your blood pressure?
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