What is Low Blood Pressure?
Anytime the topic of blood pressure is in the spotlight, inevitable
the discussion encompasses hypertension, more commonly called high
blood pressure, but usually not much is said about low blood
pressure and the possible complications it might indicate.
Part of this may be because it is not as common, does not have the
same health complications, and 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, although in
general doctors will often use a rough rule of thumb of 90/60 as the
point at which they consider a patients pressure to be low.
Without an authoritative definition of low blood pressure, the
general rule of thumb adopted by most doctors has been the
measurement of 90/60 because this is reported to be the level at
which symptoms start to develop and are displayed in some patients.
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 and in
some countries it it actually considered a sign of good health. But,
if you note that your blood pressure is below 120/80, you would want
to mention that fact to your doctor during your next consultation,
but 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, and 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, and the cause of 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 periods 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.
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