Low Blood Pressure

There are a lot of different effects that blood pressure can have on a body. Most think about hypertension otherwise known as high blood pressure. However having low blood pressure can cause problems as well. Hypotension can be serious and it should be taken care of immediately. Having low blood pressure can affect the brain and could as a result cause more problems that cannot be fixed or even fatal.

The most known reason for having hypotension is having decreased blood volume that is known as hypovolemia. There are many reasons why this is a problem that can occur in this way. Most of them have to do with problem with the nervous system in the brain. There are other causes that will include some medicines that can have hypovolemia as a side effect. Because low blood pressure has these affects and is a result of problems with such an important part of the body, it makes hypotension even more serious than having high blood pressure.

One type of problem related to hypotension that should be considered is orthostatic hypotension. This is also known as postural hypotension and is one of the more common forms of low blood pressure. It can occur because of a change in the body’s position. An example would be standing up from a sitting or lying down position can briefly lower the blood flow in the body. Because of this, you can become dizzy, and can be noticed on a regular basis by many. Another more serious type of the syndrome can be brought on by medications of the physical and the psychiatric topic.

There is another form of hypotension that is less common than orthostatic hypotension. It is known as postprandial hypotension and will occur 30-75 minutes after you have eaten. Digestion of food can send a large dose of the blood to the digestive system and due to this the autonomic nervous system must compensate to increase the body’s heart rate and find make more blood pump. Orthostatic hypotension can affect the autonomic nervous system, making it even weaker than it already is. It is also a sign of a failing autonomic nervous system maybe because of age or something else completely.

Hypotension is just as severe as hypertension. Even though the two may sound the same, their affects on the body are very different. However they are both cause for concern and should be checked out immediately especially since having low blood pressure could affect the brain and this is the most important part of the body.