Let's learn more about High Blood Pressure!
Maintaining normal blood pressure is so important for our health, including our gynecologic health. However, as we age we are more prone to develop high blood pressure. Genetics can also play a role in increasing your risk.
What exactly is High Blood Pressure?
The best way that I explain it to my patients is a way that my mentor in medical school taught me, and it's stuck with me since. So imagine a truck driving down the highway at 60, 70 miles an hour. Now, throw in 20 sandbags in the back of the truck, and that truck is going to really struggle to keep up at that 60, 70 speed if it can even do that. The truck is going to work extra hard. The engine is going to work extra hard. You're going to have to pump that gas extra hard to really maintain that speed, because you have this weight in the back of the truck.
Similarly, think about your blood vessels narrowing and losing elasticity as the years go by. This is often due to cholesterol build up within your arteries. They become less flexible and make it harder for blood to pump through. So when your heart pumps blood, it is having to work extra hard against these very stiff and narrow blood vessels in order to get that blood from your heart all the way to all the organs in your body. So if your blood vessels were very flexible and clean and had a bigger diameter, this blood will flow very nicely and quickly, and your heart doesn't have to work as hard. But if it's very narrow and stiff, that blood can still get through, but your heart isn't going to have to pump at a much higher pressure to get that blood through the blood vessels so you can get oxygen to the rest of your body.
The cholesterol and fat particles that build up in your blood vessels are like those sandbags that make it more difficult for your
blood to pump through.
Now, when we talk about blood pressure, we talk about two numbers. The top number, which is your systolic, and the bottom number, which is your diastolic. These seem like complicated words, but essentially the way to think about it is the pressure at which your heart pumps is the top number. And when it relaxes and fills with blood, that's the pressure that is shown as the bottom number.
A normal blood pressure is 120 over 80. Hopefully you now have a better understanding of what high blood pressure is and why we care so much about it!
If you are in California and you are looking for an expert gynecologist, come and see me!
I'm in Lafayette, CA and my number is 925-74-7473 , and I'll be happy to see you for a consultation.
You can set up a coaching session with me, email: thefibroiddoc@gmail.com , and we can set up a time and go over all your questions.
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