Q: It seems that my blood pressure varies with my pulse rate. When my pulse rate is 62 to 65, I get a good reading of 130/80. When the pulse goes to something like 54, the reading goes to 140/90. Can you explain that please? Thank you.
A: Typically blood pressure will rise with an increase in heart rate. Since you report the opposite, I have to wonder about what you are doing during measurements and what drugs you might be taking. Quietly resting in a cool room could both lower your heart rate and increase your blood pressure as vessels constrict to conserve body heat. Being more active in a warm room would cause the opposite to occur. Drugs can cause all sort of unusual reactions. Discuss this further with your doctor.
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She is wrong – big shock! It is not unusual for blood pressure to decrease with increased pulse rate not under exertion.
I too have similar problem. My doctor said the decreased pulse is related to drugs that I am taking. (Concor AM 5 and Natrilix.
My blood pressure/heart rate seems to be inversly related as well, although usually my B.P. is OK, my heart rate is usually lower when my B.P. is higher, and conversely my heart rate is often higher when my B.P. is lower. e.g. my B.P. is usually higher at wake up than it is in the afternoon, and my heart rate is usually lower in the morning and high in the afternoon.
I agree too that she is wrong. Often, if my pressure is higher, my pulse is lower! And Vice versa.
I am not on any medication, remarks made: Typically blood pressure will rise with an increase in heart rate. I find this not typical for me, it is the other direction. With my heart rate at 66 I normaly have the following heart rate at the age of 69: 132/76.
I did not know about the cold room. My doctors office is always chilly. I wonder if that’s why I get higher readings there.
You get higher readings at your Doctors for the following reasons. One you have got there having walked, biked or driven by car. Then after waiting to see him/her, you have got up and walked to your Doctors room. At this point you BP has been raised and will always be higher as your Doctor takes it. If you want a true reading, sit down at home, wait 10 mins and them take your reading. This will give you a much better idea of your true BP. Hope this helps…PS The NHS are aware of the problem with patients getting higher readings at their Doctors, and are looking at changing the way this is done…
Happens to me quite often too. Not on any drugs.
Exercise always lowers my blood pressure significantly. This is true even when measured shortly afterwards while my pulse is still elevated.
Can someone explain to me what the pulse rate measures?
Why is it that athletes have very low pulse rate?
As I understand it, pulse rate is how many times your heart beats per minute – i.e. how many times the heart contracts and expands to pump the blood through your body.
Athletes ofter have a heart rate in the 50’s because of their training (exercise). I don’t understand all the dynamics involved, but basically I think it is because they exercise so much their systems are “better tuned” than the average bear. My heart rate is usually in the 50’s also, but it is because of my blod pressure meds (I am on a beta blocker and that tends to reduce heart rate to reduce blood pressure – however, see the conversation above about the relationship between heart rate and B.P., it seems to contradict this).
Pulse rate droping with higher blood pressure (all other things remaining constant) is basic fluid mechanics,(something not mastered by the medical profession) and perfectly logical.
The body recognizes that it needs more oxygen, so it has to increase the blood flow (with the oxygen carrying red blood cells).
It has two options: 1. Increase the pressure so the blood flows faster or 2. Increase the heart rate (pulse) [drive the pump faster]to increase the blood flow and oxygen transfer.
This is simple fluid mechanics.
The measurement(s) that has been missing here is/are amount of blood flow (and oxygen transfer) per unit time – which is a function of volume, velocity and capability of the red blood cells to transfer oxygen (which could also be affected by lung capacity – which transfers the oxygen to the red cells).
This latter parameter also explains how and why pneumonia can cause a varity of heart related problems.
Come on,you who criticize,Dr rowena cannot possibly go into all the nuances and possibilities regarding circumstances which correlate blood-pressure readings with heart-rate.what she gave in her answer is probably what usually CAN and does happen.she cannot describe all the possible variations or she would be writing a medical textbook.having said that,i believe that blood-pressure in 8 out of 10 cases can be lowered by diet,stress-management,weight-loss,exercise-ask your doctor about limitations applying to you-,etc,and supplements and herbs prescribed under the guidance of a QUALIFIED health-care provider who knows their onions well.i suggest you google ‘Linda Lazarides’ and consult with her,or if in the americas,visit frances fuller,former assistant to the late dr abram Hoffer in vancouver,canada.meantime,stick with what your doctors have prescribed until guided otherwise.moreover,do not self-medicate with supplements and herbs while under pharmaceutical-medication because of adverse,sometimes very-dangerous adverse-interactions.
“There is no good correlation between pulse rate and blood pressure.”
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/AboutHighBloodPressure/Blood-Pressure-vs-Heart-Rate_UCM_301804_Article.jsp
I think this may be one of the few instances I agree with her in that typically BP rises or falls in proportion to hear rate. At least that is the case with me about 90+ percent of the time. If I exercise vigorously, then the heart rate goes up. This is what is supposed to happen. It’s called heart rate training. Eventually after exercise the heart rate drops (heart rate recovery) and BP also drops.
Beta Blockers are notorious for lowering heart rate. I take them for my BP but my heart rate is typically in the 40’s. I also exercise a lot also.
I’ve been monitoring my blood pressure for years and have noticed that in the winter when I’m chilled the numbers are higher than they are during the rest of the year when I feel warmer.
I have the same situation. Resting BP135/100-HR 55. After exercise,
BP 118/85-HR 80. I am a senior citizen in good shape.
I think she is wrong. Lower pulse rate means the blood is flowing slower which means the pressure reading will be rising. When your pulse rate is perfectly active (about 62/min), you will get a normal reading. Very slow or very fast will give you abnormal readings.
All you folks out there with High Blood pressure listen to me!! Take your B.P, 3 times in a row don’t go by the first one it is usually higher…. The Drs won’t tell you this…. If you have an appointment with the Dr. one day.. someone just cut you off in your car or you might be upset about something or someone..then the DR takes your pressure… Well!!!! don’t ypou think it’s going to be high.. There they go putting you on B.P meds because your pressure is 160/90.. HELLO!!! make them take it again and again.. if it’s high 3 times then you MIGHT have HP. Don’t put all your beliefs in the Doctors…
You are soooo right, Barbara. Mayo clinic protocol suggests 3 distinct readings. Throw the first reading away, then average the second two readings. I take these at least 10 minutes apart so that blood can refill the arm.
Also, I cannot have doctors take my blood pressure. I pretty much I view them as an unfortunate necessity at times, not a friend, so they spike my blood pressure ever time I am there. (White coat hypertension). Later at home my blood pressure is perfectly normal.
I was put on meds because of this, and once on, it was VERY difficult to get off! There is a “rebound effect”, designed to keep you on the drugs! The drugs are all toxic and have terrible side effects.
Now I live a drug-free life after using lots of natural therapies for hypertension, but it was a real ordeal getting off of that poisnon and getting my blood pressure back to normal again, naturally!
All the best!!
Can you tell me please how you did that, quitting the meds? I work with resperation device but when my Bp lowers and I start taking less med, me Bp gets higher and that scares me. How did you do it?
yes,my blood pressure is between 140-150 in the morning,but that day i worked out and then i checked it it’s between 130-140, i take natural blood pressure medicine for two months mk-7 45mg,grape seed extract 150mg, wild blueberry fruit extact 150mg, it that long enough to take for not going back up?
This ain’t rocket science! Your body needs the same amount of blood in each situation, so if you know anything about statistics or science, when the pulse rate is lower the pressure must be higher to produce the same amount of blood, the opposite of what the “expert” said, and that is exactly the same situation with me and I don’t take any drugs.
I have just read with interest your answer to the question regarding variation in blood pressure as against pulse rate. My experience is the same as your questioner – i.e my blood pressure goes up when my pulse rate goes down. I am not on any medication and all other factors are equal.
Hello can you tell me the advantage of taking ‘ARBS’like ‘Cozaar’, over a Beta-blocker?
There is another factor involved in this, which Dr. Rowena gave an example of, but which did not flow into the discussion. It is the elasticity of the blood vessels. If they are elastic, they will expand easily and allow more blood to flow with less pressure than if the blood vessels are constricted. I take magnesium tablets to help me and my blood vessels relax between doses of blood pressure medication (metoprolol), which means my blood pressure will go down if my heart rate remains the same or else my heart rate will slow. When my blood vessels constrict, like near the time for me to take my blood pressure medication, my heart pumps faster to get the same amount of blood flow and the narrower blood vessels mean the blood pressure is higher. Think of a hose as an example. Changing the diameter of a hose (blood vessel) transporting a given volume of liquid per minute changes the pressure on the hose (blood pressure) and the rate of the pump (heart rate) or the force of the pump (workload per heartbeat). If the blood vessels are constricted and hard, it takes more bp cuff pressure to cut off the blood flow (high systolic pressure) and the diastolic reading will be high since the blood vessels are holding the blood in tight. When the blood vessels are more pliable, there is less pressure on the walls of the vessels, meaning not so much pressure is required to cut off the blood flow (lower systolic pressure)while the heartbeat continues to be heard with even less (diastolic) pressure. The positive relationship between heartrate and blood pressure holds only if there is no change in any other variable, including force with which the heart pumps, diameter of the blood vessels, body’s need for oxygen, etc.
The NHS now recognise that having blood pressure measured at the Hospital/GP surgery does not give a true reflection & can be high due to what is termed “White coat syndrome”. If they suspect you might have high blood pressure you are put on a 24hr moniter which will do measurements every half hour during the day & every hour while your asleep. This gives a true picture & only if it’s as consistently high are you put on treatment. I only know as my BP has been monitered over a few weeks & will now have a 24hr moniter due to all the readings showing as high or border line & as due for surgery my surgeon had requested a check done as he will send me home if the BP is high on the Op day. Todays reading at pre-ops was 150/88 with Pulse Rate 66.