How does your pulse and blood pressure work?

Answer 1

Your "pulse" is how fast your heart is beating, and is measured in how many beats in a minute. This is controlled by several things. One is how healthy your heart is (if you have a strong heart, i.e. from exercising, your heart does not have to beat as often for the same effect and therefore your pulse will be lower). If you are exercising, your pulse or heart rate will increase to meet the increasing oxygen demands of your muscles. Also, if you are afraid, stressed out, or angry, your sympathetic nervous system stimulates the "flight or fight" response which increases your heart rate for the same reason.

Your Blood pressure, however, is how much pressure is actually being exerted on the insides of your blood vessels when your heart beats. This is affected by three things: the size of your blood vessels, the strength of your heart, and the amount of fluid or blood in your bloodstream. The flight or fight response can affect these things by causing your heart to beat harder, therefore exerting more pressure, and by causing your blood vessels to constrict, or narrow. Both of these things raise your blood pressure. Again, exercise also causes your heart to beat harder and raises your blood pressure. Nicotine causes your blood vessels to constrict and this increases blood pressure. If you are dehydrated or bleeding severely, your blood pressure goes down because there is less fluid in your blood stream. Your body will compensate for this by increasing your pulse rate and constricting your blood vessels.

The numbers you see in a blood pressure represent your systolic Blood Pressure (the first and usually higher number) and your diastolic Blood Pressure. The systolic blood pressure is the pressure exerted on your blood vessels when your heart pumps. This is why this pressure is higher. The diastolic Blood Pressure is the pressure in your blood vessels in between heart beats.

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