See my question below...(it's kinda long so i put it on the question details part)...?

Question

Suppose a man ran into a doctor’s office and immediately had his blood pressure measured. Would a reading above the normal 120/80 in Torr (or 16/11 in kPa) indicate he is suffering from a high blood pressure? Why?

Answer 1

Clara - You might be surprised to know that there are actually very strict rules that have been set forth to define what "high blood pressure" is.

It is normal for our blood pressure to vary. A number of factors related to the patient can cause significant deviations in measured blood pressure. These include room temperature, exercise, alcohol or nicotine consumption, positioning of the arm, muscle tension, bladder distension, talking, and background noise.

The American Heart Association has a very long document that details how blood pressure SHOULD be measured, although not everyone follows their recommendations.

The patient should be asked to remove all clothing that covers the location of cuff placement. The individual should be comfortably seated, with the legs uncrossed, and the back and arm supported, such that the middle of the cuff on the upper arm is at the level of the right atrium (the mid-point of the sternum). Measurements made while the patient is on an examining table do not fulfill these criteria and should preferably be made while the patient is seated in a chair. At the initial visit, blood pressure should be measured in both arms. The patient should be instructed to relax as much as possible and to not talk during the measurement procedure; ideally, 5 minutes should elapse before the first reading is taken.

In other words, a blood pressure measured after a man has just "run into a doctor's office" would not be considered a valid pressure for the sake of determining if he has high blood pressure because EVERYONE should have a high blood pressure immediately after exercise. Not only that, but the diagnosis of hypertension (high blood pressure) must be based upon the average of two or more properly measured readings at each of two or more visits after an initial screen, so a one-time blood pressure reading that is high may be suggestive but does not qualify as a diagnosis of high blood pressure. Hope that helps!

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Possibly. The standards for high blood pressure are changing. While the parameters were once 140/90, 130/80 is becoming the new threshold. Also, any pressure (whether systolic, diastolic, or both) 30mmHg higher than a person's baseline pressure would be considered high. In this case, if he normally ran 90/50 (low, but not uncommon), he would be considered elevated. I hope this clears it up!