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Blood pressure is important to
your health. The most common way to measure blood pressure is
to use something called a sphygmomanometer. This is commonly
referred to as a blood pressure cuff, since that is exactly what
it is: a cuff which can be pressurized is placed around the arm.
The cuff is usually placed
around the upper left arm of a patient, at roughly the same
vertical height as the person’s heart. Blood pressure is usually
taken with the person in an upright seated position.
The cuff is then inflated until
enough pressure is placed on the brachial artery there for a
reading to occur. The systolic pressure is taken when the
Korotkoff sounds can be heard through a stethoscope against the
inner elbow. As the cuff deflates, the sound will stop. When
this does, the reading is the diastolic pressure.
Two types of blood pressure
cuffs are in existence: digital and manual. Both of these types
have their ups and downs, though most people tend to use the
digital blood pressure cuffs when they are taking their blood
pressure at home or in a drug store.
Digital cuffs are not only
easier to use, they are also more practical in a noisy
environment, since you don’t have to listen for the Korotkoff
sounds in order to get a blood pressure reading. These cuff
types actually measure the mean arterial pulse, and then derive
both the systolic and diatolic pressures from that.
Manual sphygmomanometers are
much more precise than digital ones, though they take more skill
to operate and therefore are normally used only by doctors. They
involve having to manually pump the cuff as well as listening
for the Korotkoff sounds, which some people find difficult to
gauge.
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