Low Blood Pressure
Generally Low Blood Pressure cannot be explained or detected by the presence of symptoms which show if there is a problem.
Low blood pressure may lead to symptoms such as fatigue. The complications of low blood pressure are not as severe as those for high blood pressure.
When our blood pressure gets too low, the brain does not receive enough blood and we get dizzy. When this continues or becomes very severe, one can faint. This occurs mostly when we stand up.
Low Blood Pressure (Hypotension)
Hypotension or low BP is a term used to describe a BP that is so low that that person experiences dizziness and fainting because blood flow to the brain is decreased. The most common type of hypotension is Postural Hypotension. This occurs when people stand up or sit up quickly. In normal conditions the change of posture is accompanied by an increase in BP but people with postural hypotension don't have this increase. The condition is brought out as a side effect sometimes when antihypertensives or antidepressants are taken. It can also occur in sufferers of diabetes mellitus. Another type of hypotension develops when someone has serious burns or such bad injuries that they go into shock. Treatment depends on the underlying cause.
The treatment in bums is immediate fluid administration to make up the volume lost. In burns plasma is given exclusively as plasma loss is very heavy. Instead of whole blood transfusion, plasma transfusion is given. Management of fluid loss and its compensation bring the pressure to normal.
Postural hypotension also tends to become more common with advanced age as nerve signals and regulatory system responses become slow. The danger is, if one becomes too dizzy or loses consciousness one can fall and get injured. One can avoid this problem by standing more slowly and holding on to something while one stands. Drugs are available for certain forms of hypotension.
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