Health is a unity and harmony within the mind, body and spirit which is unique to each person, and is as defined by that person. The level of wellness or health is, in part, determined by the ability to deal with and defend against stress. Health is determined by physiological, psychological, socio-cultural, spiritual, and developmental stage variables.
Taking Blood Pressure
120/80 is defined as healthy blood pressure according to the medical establishment. But there is no a single person who always has such blood pressure because it is such a rare thing like winning lottery all the time. So what blood pressure should be taken as healthy in the real world' It hovers around 120/80, it can be a bit less or more. If you want to find out what blood pressure you have you should measure it. It is important to know your real BP, but not occasional reading taken at the doctor's office. Such reading can be false because you may feel uncomfortable there and it influences your blood pressure. That is why you'd better do it at home. For taking a BP measurement you will need an instrument (cuff) and a stethoscope. You will also need a watch to time your heart beat. It is important that the cuff is not too narrow because then the result would be overestimated.
As well as taking BP with too wide a cuff can result in an underestimation of your BP. Sphygmomanometer is a device used by doctors but it is now used by many people at home. The cuff is made of fabric wrapped around your arm and then inflated. It is important to take your blood pressure regularly because it is difficult to notice early visible signs of having high hypertension. The procedure takes about 5 minutes but plays a great role in maintaining your heath. Sit down and rest your arm on the table.
The cuff should be placed on your left arm, one inch above your elbow joint on the same level with your heart. If put the arm too low then it will show that the BP is falsely high. A BP reading includes two numbers.
The higher one is called the systolic and the lower one is diastolic. Systolic shows your BP after the heart contraction and pushing the blood through your arteries. The diastolic measures the pressure after your heart expands and draws blood into its chambers.
There must be a gap between the systolic and diastolic. The healthy gap is considered to be approximately 40 points. In other words, systolic BP must be around 40 points higher than diastolic pressure.
Now the healthy blood pressure is considered to be around 120/80. But previously there was another formula and in order to calculate the healthy blood pressure numbers you should have added 100 systolic to your age. The BP is known to increase with age and this formula took this fact into consideration.
For taking a BP measurement you will need an instrument (cuff) and a stethoscope. You will also need a watch to time your heart beat. It is important that the cuff is not too narrow because then the result would be overestimated.