Everyone talks about how dangerous high blood pressure (hypertension) can be, but low blood pressure (hypotension) is no walk in the park, either!
With nearly half of African Americans living with hypertension, one would think that low blood pressure would be something to celebrate, right?
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“Hypotension occurs when the blood pressure drops for any reason,” explains Dr. Bola Oyeyipo, a family physician in southern California and co-founder of Healthgist.com.
In most cases, low blood pressure is pretty harmless unless there are symptoms, which include dizziness, fainting, pale skin, blurry vision and nausea. The reason being that the brain is being deprived of blood supply it needs.
There are several types of low blood pressure, including postural (or orthostatic) hypotension and neurally mediated hypotension.
Postural hypotension occurs when a person is sitting or lying down and then suddenly stands. It’s more common among older folks because as we age, the amount of blood flow to the brain and heart slows down. Dehydrated? Fatigued? Pregnant? Diabetic? Already taking medication to control your high blood pressure? Then you’re more likely to experience postural hypotension.
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Neurally mediated hypotension, on the other hand, occurs when a person stands for long periods of time.
Is low blood pressure something to worry about? Generally no, unless it happens suddenly, which in that case can be life threatening. Causes include extreme dehydration, excessive bleeding and having a too low or too high body temperature.
“When the systolic blood pressure (the top number) goes below 90mmhg (and you are not pregnant), it could lead to blood flow being diverted from vital organs like the kidneys and this could lead to kidney failure,” Dr. Oyeyipo says.
The best way to prevent low blood pressure? “Stay hydrated and watch use of blood pressure medications when sick with the stomach flu or dehydrated,” Dr. Oyeyipo advises.
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