Blood Pressure in Humans and Epidemiology

Abstract

Arterial pressure in humans, reported using systolic and diastolic values, is said to by typically around 120/80 mm Hg. But, specific deviations from the norm have been catalogued, often using studies of large numbers of subjects. Pressure increases steadily with age, except in those societies that have a very low sodium consumption. Reducing the dietary sodium intake in subjects with hypertension will decrease their pressure somewhat. Obesity is associated with increased pressure in children and adults; conversely, weight loss decreases pressure. Children of parents with high blood pressure will tend to have a higher pressure also, and vice versa. This appears to be partly genetic and partly environmental. Curiously, the physiological mechanisms underlying all of these empirical relationships remain unknown.