What is low blood pressure?
Your body is constantly working to regulate your blood pressure. A vast and intricate system is at work in your body, with each component doing its part to maintain regular blood pressure and keep it from going too high or too low. Low blood pressure, simply, is when your body is not producing and pumping enough blood to vital organs such as the heart and the brain. When low blood pressure occurs, the results can be negative: fainting, depression, lack of sleep, lack of focus, dizziness, lightheadedness, chest pain, dry, flaky skin, difficulty in urinating, stroke, heart disease, heart attack, and death can all occur from having low blood pressure.
What are the different kinds of low blood pressure?
Generally speaking low blood pressure can be looked at three ways.
1. First, there is the kind of low blood pressure that comes from simply not having enough blood in your system. This can occur if you’ve sustained an injury either internally or externally. A severe internal blow can be just as bad as an external one when it comes to losing blood. If you smash your head, for example, and lose a lot of blood that way, low blood pressure occurs; likewise, if you fall from a height and land in a peculiar way and your blood begins to hemorrhage internally, you’ll suffer from low blood pressure.
2. Another kind of low blood pressure occurs when the heart isn’t pumping enough blood to the rest of the body. This can result in lack of energy, lack of focus, and heart disease. One major way of blocking blood flow to the heart is the eating of too much fatty food. Fatty food forms fatty deposits on the walls of the arteries, and these deposits keep the blood from flowing through the body smoothly, evenly, and efficiently. Once the blood is obstructed, clots or hemorrhaging can occur, and clots and hemorrhaging can mean heart attack and death.
3. Your blood vessels constrict from time to time, and this constriction helps to regulate your flow of blood. It’s possible to interfere with this constriction. Standing up too rapidly and getting out of bed too rapidly are minor example of this. With all three types of low blood pressure, too much of certain kinds of medication, including antidepressants, can contribute to the problem. You’ll want to talk to your doctor to see if any medications you’re currently on lead to low blood pressure.
In fact, talking to your doctor is a good idea to combat low blood pressure in general. Aside from possibly dangerous medications, you doctor can counsel you on getting your diet and exercise program where it needs to be. Eating a diet high in natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, and grains will help to combat low blood pressure. Foods like these clean out the arteries and allow the blood to flow smoothly.
Be gentle with your body; your want your blood vessels to be in good working order all the time. Don’t stand too rapidly, wake up too rapidly, eat too much at once, or exercise without a proper amount of fuel (food and fluids) in your body. Low blood pressure can occur with dehydration. Certain common sense steps, such as eating and drinking properly before taking a long run, should be taken as often as possible. Low blood pressure is dangerous, but it can be avoided with a little effort and thinking. Proper diet, proper exercise, and the right dosage of the right medications will play a huge part in getting your blood pressure levels to normal.