blood pressure
Definition
noun
"…raised blood pressure may account for as many as 70 per cent of all strokes. The risk of stroke rises with both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the normotensive and hypertensive ranges. Blood pressure control reduces the incidence of first stroke and aspirin appears to reduce the risk of stroke after TIAs"[British Journal of Hospital Medicine]
COMMENT Blood pressure is measured using a sphygmomanometer. A rubber tube is wrapped round the patient’s arm and inflated and two readings of blood pressure are taken: the systolic pressure, when the heart is contracting and so pumping out, and the diastolic pressure, which is always a lower figure, when the heart relaxes. Healthy adult values are considered to be 160/95, unless the patient is diabetic or has heart disease, when lower target values are set.