Blood Pressure & Pulse during exercise Essay

Introduction: The blood pressure of a person is the force exerted by the blood on the walls of the arteries per unit area. The blood pressure unit is mmHg. The blood pressure of an individual is expressed in two ways, the systolic (due to the contraction of the ventricle) and diastolic, (due to the relaxation of the ventricle). The normal blood pressure of an individual is 120/80 (systolic / diastolic). Various factors can alter a person’s blood pressure; this includes exercise, smoking, stress, diseases and age. Materials and Methods: Stepping stool, timer, blood pressure measurement kit (Sphygmomanometer and a stethoscope) and students in-groups of four. In each group one student acted as a patient, while the other acted as a physician or nurse. Another acted as the timekeeper. The fourth student acted as the data recorder. The base-line pulse rate and blood pressure of the patient (student) were obtained. The patient was asked to perform stepping – up and down the stool 30 X within 5 minutes. After the stepping stool exercise, the patient’s blood pressure and pulse rate were immediately obtained again. After resting for 2 minutes, the measurements were repeated and also after 5 minutes. In order to obtain more data each student in the group acted as a patient and the measurements were repeated.