Are your blood vessels contracting? Your heart pumping harder? Faster? Is there more blood in you than normal???!
What physically is happening to increase the pressure in the pipes?
In: 42
Yes. Blood pressure is remarkably complicated – all of the things you’ve listed can increase blood pressure.
An example: When you exercise, your heart rate increases to increase blood flow to the body. An increase in flow leads to an increase in pressure. However the body has lots of regulatory systems to prevent blood pressure from getting too high. In this case of exercise, blood vessels dilate to accommodate the increased blood flow and keep blood pressure at it’s normal value (assuming you’re healthy).
On short timescales, your blood pressure can spike from things like exercise or being scared. On long time scales, blood pressure can be elevated by a long list of disease states, but a relatively easy to think about is consuming too much salt in your diet. When you have a lot of salt in your body, water tends to stick around. Having all of that extra fluid increases blood volume, which increases pressure.
However, what specific thing drives a given change in blood pressure is an ongoing area of research. When heart rate, contractile strength of the heart, and blood vessel constriction/dilation are all happening simultaneously, it quite challenging to disentangle what’s causing what.
Source: I have a PhD in CV physiology, and have done a lot of research on CV fluid mechanics
Latest Answers