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Article: Easing the pressure: the ins and outs of hypertension.(blood pressure)
- Article from:
- Nutrition Health Review
- Article date:
- December 22, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Vegetus Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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What is blood pressure?
The heart is responsible for pumping blood through the three types of blood vessels in the body: the arteries, the veins, and the capillaries. The arteries carry oxygen-rich blood away from the heart to every part of the body; the veins carry it back to the heart, where it is sent into the lungs to be oxygenated; and the capillaries connect the two.
For every beat of the heart, blood vessels expand and contract as blood is forced through them. The veins are used to measure blood pressure, because the pressure is usually greater in these vessels than in the arteries.
Systolic pressure, a measurement of the contraction of ...