Family Health – Low Blood Pressure – Some Basic Facts

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When the topic of blood pressure is brought up in a conversation, it almost always goes toward a discussion of high blood pressure or hypertension, while there is very little said about the condition of low blood pressure.

Part of this may be because it is not as common and does not have the same health complications. It is not even readily defined by the medical community. It is quite easy to know if you are in the territory of elevated blood pressure because there are concise numerical benchmarks that define high blood pressure.

But, there are no standardized blood pressure measurements that clearly define one as having low blood pressure. And, no official guidelines have been issued from medical authorities. However, generally speaking, doctors will often use a rough rule of thumb and a reading of 90/60 is the point at which they consider a patient’s pressure to be low.

Without having an “official” standard by which to identify low blood pressure, the rule of thumb that has been used by many doctors is a 90/60 reading; this being the point at which patients seem to display some symptoms that may have developed.

In most cases, if you do not have a history of serious medical conditions and you are not experiencing symptoms, then having a low blood pressure reading should not be a cause for much concern. In some countries it is actually considered a sign of good health. But, if you note that your blood pressure is below 120/80, you should mention this fact to your doctor during your next consultation. It shouldn’t require a special appointment unless such a reading is greatly different than your normal pressure.

Many people wonder if low blood pressure presents any dangers or health risks. The good news is that for the most part, a consistent blood pressure reading below 120/80 is not a reason to be concerned. But there are some exceptions to this, particularly in cases where there is a sudden drop in blood pressure. In this instance, it is not the low measurement in and of itself that is the problem, but instead it is the sudden drop from a normal value to a low value. It is the reason for that drop that is the cause of concern.

Abrupt changes in a person’s blood pressure can be problematic as it can mean that there are interruptions in the supply of blood going to the heart, brain and kidneys. This is usually accompanied by distinct and sometimes alarming symptoms.

For example, when orthostatic hypotension occurs, a change in body position (often a shift from sitting to standing up) is followed by a rapid reduction in the person’s blood pressure levels. When this type of low blood pressure episode happens, it is a signal to the person that there may be some other problem within the body and a full medical exam and workup should be considered.

Recent research has tied chronic low blood pressure to indications of an underlying and undiagnosed instance of kidney disease. In these cases, the period of low blood pressure seems to trigger a complex series of health events that ultimately can lead to blood vessel damage and possibly even stroke.