Nerdy Science Blog

Diastolic blood pressure is the pressure that blood exerts on the intima or wall of the blood vessels when the heart is in rest (diastole). The word ‘diastole’ means the period of time when the heart is filled with blood. It happens after systole. Both systole and diastole could happen in the atrials and ventricles, creating a cycle that enable blood to flow in to the heart chambers and pump out to the systemic and pulmonary circulation. Diastolic pressure also refers to the lowest point of the arterial blood stream of each heart beat.

Diastolic blood pressure could be measured using the same method just like measuring systolic pressure. By using a sphygmomanometer and the stethoscope, place the cuff to the elbow and place your stethoscope to listen to the brachial artery. Slowly release the pressure in the cuff and you would first hear the first Korotkoff sound. It is produed by the flow of blood into the compressed arteried. When the cuff pressure is further released, wait until you hear no sound (fifth Korotkoff sound) and look at the manometer to get the diatolic arterial pressure. The unit of measurement would be in millimetres of mercury (mmHg).

Normal diastolic blood pressure would be around 60 to 79 mmHg. Diastolic pressure changed frequently and can be easily influenced by exercises, posture, stress and nicotine use.

A low diastolic blood pressure often means the blood could not bring oxygen to the other body’s cell. It can also be called as hypotension. The diastolic blood pressure is said to be low when it is less than 60 mmHg. High diastolic blood pressure usually indicates high blood pressure or hypertension (above 90mmHg).

Hypertension is the risk of ischaemic heart disease and organ damage. Both systolic and distolic blood pressure should be monitored to determine an average blood pressure.

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