Pilot Study

Blood Pressure and Pulse Profile

There are several reasons why a person can develop heart disease, and they are:

Since the heart is a muscle, it is dependent on a good supply of blood in order to function. Supplying the blood to the body and the heart is the work of the circulatory system, which can be compared to an intricate network of irrigation channels and canals. When the heart does not receive a good supply of blood because of the silting up of blood vessels, it cannot function properly, the blood vessels will then deteriorate further, silting up will increase and the vicious circle of cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease, coronary heart disease and ischaemic heart disease will manifest itself. (Thomas, 2002:18-21)

There are a few risk factors in heart disease such as smoking and lack of exercise, but the most prominent risk factors are hypertension and elevated blood cholesterol (Thomas, 2002:29).

What is the significance of high blood pressure (hypertension)?

Blood pressure is a good indication of the health of the heart and arteries. When blood pressure is taken, it monitors the maximum and minimum strain the heart is under when pumping blood through your body. Your pulse relates to your blood pressure. When you feel your pulse, it is actually your heart pumping. A slow pulse means a slow heart beat, a fast pulse means a fast heart beat. The blood pressure reading measures the force of a single heartbeat. The systolic pressure is the force the heart exerts when pumping blood out of the heart and into the arteries. The diastolic pressure is the pressure between beats (when the heart is resting). Factors which increase the risk of developing hypertension is overweight, over indulging of alcohol and of course, smoking (Thomas, 2002:30).

Here are some Psychological risk factors:

Anger, anxiety, aggression, cynicism, high level of job stress, loneliness and low social support, defeat as well as despair. When a person is under stress over extended periods of time, stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenalin are secreted and have an adverse effect on the heart muscle, it over works the heart muscle until it basically collapses with exhaustion. The effect of adrenalin is to raise blood pressure, make blood clot fast, it then triggers other psychological processes such as the growth of atherosclerotic plaque (silting up of arteries) and initiating the movement of fat from the body’s fat reserves into the bloodstream (Thomas, 2002:47).

Continue reading: Results Of Cardiac Output

Extracts from pilot study report

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