Semester 4, Week 10, Day 4: Hypotension

I'm trying to decide what to feed the kids for breakfast his morning.  They are getting tired of the same thing.  I don't blame them.  My daughter refused to eat dinner last night so she literally ate carrots.  There are worse things to eat but it is possible to eat too many.  I don't need her turning orange. They wanted an English muffin.  That works.  I'm thinking more brussels sprouts.  That hit the spot yesterday!

I got my drafts turned in and posted for next week's discussion board so my classmates can make comments on them before I complete the final drafts. Today, I'm going to try to get that essay done and the quiz for toxicology.  I seriously need to start getting ahead so I can spend a week cramming for the Health and Wellness final.  I need to start that on the 22nd.

The last discussion from last semester is below so tomorrow I will resume talking about herbs.  I have two ready to go so it shouldn't be a problem with my workload. We shall see.  Obviously the time period around finals can be rough.  At least I'll be taking on this one and the other next month.  I must take deep breaths and remember I can do this. Love and Light!

On to the discussion

"Please answer one of the following:

• Describe the pathophysiology and clinical manifestations of a chosen venous diseases.
• Describe the pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, and complications of hypertension.
• Identify the pathophysiology and clinical manifestations of orthostatic hypotension."
  

 
 
Since it’s not talked about much, I’d like to discuss hypotension so I hope I understand this correctly! What is important to understand is cardiac output is stroke volume times the heart rate (Banasik & copstead, 2019, p. 337). Volume is obviously the amount of blood flowing through which each “pump”.  When I think of low blood pressure it usually brings to mind hospital movies and TV shows with someone screaming “his blood pressure is dropping” usually followed by words including “stat”.  We hear more about people living with high blood pressure as opposed to low blood pressure. 

In fact, I’ve only known one person who had low blood pressure and I have no clue what ended up with him. The way it’s supposed to work, when you move, your blood pressure elevated a bit with that movement.  Think increase of pulse when you work out. My friend was active duty so I can say he DID work out, yet he had hypotension. On page 350, it says this occurs in 6-30% of elderly people, which makes sense. I’m not surprised the text says the person may experience dizziness, blurred vision and fainting because he did these things. This can lead to cardiovascular disease, stroke, cognitive impairment and death. 

All of this may be caused by some kind of illness or a reaction to specific prescription medications.   In my friend’s case, he was 6’4” and weighed 120 pounds.  The doctor told him to eat more and put him on a specific diet and he was done eating by lunch because he was so full.  The National Institute for Health recommends drinking plenty of fluids with sodium and potassium, abstaining from consumption of alcohol, standing up slowly, do not cross your legs, ant eat small, low-carb meals. 
 
References
Banasik, J. L. and Copstead, L. E. C. (2019). Pathophysiology. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
National Institute for Health retrieved from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/hypotension
 
Have a Great Day!