Causes – Symptoms and Treatment of Low Blood Pressure Explained

In order to fully understand what low blood pressure is it is important to fathom the process which is called blood pressure and how it is expressed.

Understanding Blood Pressure

There are two major factors that need to be considered to understand the intricate process which human heart becomes a part of to lead to blood pressure. When human heart is in a relaxed state, its left ventricle fills with blood which is received from lungs. The first factor that needs to be understood comes into play when the left ventricle of human heart contracts to pump blood into the arteries. The second factor which is used to determine blood pressure is the degree of resistance the arteries have to offer to the flow of blood. The degree of resistance posed by arteries tends to be on the higher side if the arteries are narrow or stiff.

Expression of Blood Pressure

Blood pressure of a person is expressed as systolic/diastolic blood pressure, for instance, 120/80 mm Hg. The first part of this expression represents the pressure caused in the arteries as the left vertical of the heart contracts to ooze out blood, while the second part of the expression represents the pressure caused by the relaxation of the left vertical.

Understanding Low Blood Pressure

As the name suggest, low blood pressure occurs when the pressure with which the left vertical of human heart pumps blood into the arteries is significantly low as compared to the usual pressure. It is important to note that while high blood pressure can be expressed in numbers, low blood pressure is mostly determined by appearance of certain symptoms. What blood pressure is too low for one person is likely to be different to that of another person as the low blood pressure is not fixed for every human and cannot be expressed in numbers.

Symptoms of Low Blood Pressure

The main reason why low blood pressure is not favorable for health is that it can lead to insufficient supply of blood to vital body organs. As your body starts experiencing low blood pressure, the performance of vital body organs starts getting affected and this in turn leads to certain symptoms and signs.

For instance, feeling of dizziness and lightheadedness are two major symptoms of low blood pressure and they are primarily caused when the blood supply reaching your brain cells is insufficient. Developing of dizziness and fainting due to low blood pressure is medically termed as orthostatic hypotension. Angina or severe chest pain is another telltale symptom of low blood pressure which is caused when insufficient supply of blood reaches your arteries. If this condition persists for too long and a person continues to endure severe chest pain due to low blood pressure, then this can also lead to a heart attack. Similarly, the effects of low blood pressure on other organs such as kidneys, liver and lung are also severe.

Causes of Low Blood Pressure

Low blood pressure is caused by severe bleeding which can result from inflammation of body organs, trauma, surgical problems or gastrointestinal problems. Patients who suffer from heart disease are also likely to experience low blood pressure due to a number of reasons including weak heart muscle and slow heart rate.

Pericarditis is another cause of low blood pressure as it causes fluid to accumulate within pericardium to affect heart’s capability to pump blood. Yet another cause of low blood pressure is blockage of flow of blood due to formation of blood clot.

Treatment of Low Blood Pressure

Healthy people experiencing low blood pressure who do not suffer from any major disease or organ malfunction do not require any formal treatment. Doctors usually advise a treatment by identifying the cause of this problem. Use of certain medications that cause low blood pressure are stopped or restricted to treat this problem. Whereas, low blood pressure caused by blood loss and septic shock is treated with intravenous fluids and antibiotics.

Low blood pressure caused by pulmonary embolism is treated with the help of blood thinners to deal with blood clots. In other cases, certain drugs, medicine and change in diet can also treat low blood pressure problem.