Low Blood Pressure

Also called: Hypotension, LBP

You've probably heard that high blood pressure is a problem. So what about low blood pressure?

Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Each time your heart beats, it pumps out blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is highest when your heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic pressure. When your heart is at rest, between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is the diastolic pressure. Your blood pressure reading uses these two numbers. Both are important. Usually they're written one above or before the other, such as 120/80. If your blood pressure reading is 90/60 or lower, you have low blood pressure.

Some people have low blood pressure all the time. They have no symptoms and their low readings are normal for them. In other people, blood pressure drops below normal because of some event or medical condition. Some people may experience symptoms of low pressure when standing up too quickly. Low blood pressure is a problem only if it causes dizziness, fainting or in extreme cases, shock.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

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• Hypotension(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Basics	Learn More	Multimedia & Cool Tools
Overviews Latest News Diagnosis/Symptoms	Specific Conditions	No links available
Research	Reference Shelf	For You
Clinical Trials Journal Articles	Medical Encyclopedia Organizations	Seniors

• Overviews
  • Low Blood Pressure (Hypotension)(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
  • Your High Blood Pressure Questions Answered -- Low Blood Pressure(American Heart Association)
• Latest News
  • Too-Low Blood Pressure Can Also Bring Danger(05/07/2009, HealthDay)
• Diagnosis/Symptoms
  • Arterial Catheterization(American Thoracic Society)
  • Blood Pressure Testing and Measurement(American Heart Association)
  • Tilt-Table Test(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Specific Conditions
  • Autonomic Nervous System(American Heart Association)
  • Multiple System Atrophy with Orthostatic Hypotension (Shy-Drager Syndrome)(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary
  • Orthostatic Hypotension(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary
  • Orthostatic Hypotension (Postural Hypotension)(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
  • Shy-Drager Syndrome(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
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• Clinical Trials
  • ClinicalTrials.gov: Hypotension(National Institutes of Health)
  • ClinicalTrials.gov: Shy-Drager Syndrome(National Institutes of Health)
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• Journal Articles

  References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

  • Article: Anaesthesia in haemodynamically compromised emergency patients: does ketamine represent the...
  • Article: Early systemic hypotension and vasopressor support in low birth weight...
  • Article: Recognition of a Kawasaki disease shock syndrome.
  • Low Blood Pressure -- see more articles
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• Medical Encyclopedia
  • Low Blood Pressure
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• Organizations
  • American Heart Association
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

    Also available in Spanish

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• Seniors
  • Fainting (Syncope)(AGS Foundation for Health in Aging)
  • Postprandial Hypotension(Merck & Co., Inc.)
  • Steady As You Go: Low Blood Pressure(AGS Foundation for Health in Aging) - Links to PDF
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• Related Topics

  • High Blood Pressure
  • Blood, Heart and Circulation
  
  

• National Institutes of Health

  • The primary NIH organization for research on Low Blood Pressure is the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
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