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Systolic Blood Pressure Essay

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It was observed that the average systolic blood pressure did increase going from at rest to just after exercise (118 mmHg to 179.5 mmHg; Table 1.), however there was no significant difference between the two with a p-value of 0.063 (Table 2.). The average diastolic blood pressure increased slightly from 71.5 mmHg at rest to 79 mmHg after exercise (Table 1.); however, there was also no significant difference between the two with a p-value of 0.468 (Table 2.). The average HR between the at rest and just after exercise recordings also showed no significant difference (p-value = 0.056; Table 2.), however there was a general increase from 64.5 bpm to 80.5 bpm (Table 1.). Just after exercise average systolic blood pressure showed no …show more content…

The hypothesis: If exercise increases, then blood pressure and HR will increase initially as a result of increased QC, and as time progresses the initial increase in blood pressure and HR will adjust to their normal resting values, was not supported by the results (p-value>0.05). The initial rise in blood pressure can be tied to the increased need of oxygen delivery to the contracting muscle cells. The increase in oxygen demand causes an increase in hyperemia to the skeletal muscles3. The increased blood flow increases blood pressure as a result of increased QC. QC is also influenced by a high level of sympathetic nervous innervation3. By increasing sympathetic tone there is an increase in SA node pacing, increased contractility, and increased irritability of foci. All of this results in an increase in SV and inevitably increases QC. With the heart pumping faster and harder, blood pressure increases. The results of this experiment could be applied to the research conducted by Allison et al. They found a connection between exercise hypertension and an increased likelihood of having a cardiac related outcome later in life. Their risk for a cardiovascular event increased two-fold when a healthy individual develops exercise hypertension (systolic blood pressure >214 mmHg)2. Resting systolic blood pressure increased with a control average of 118 mmHg and 125 mmHg in the exercise hypertension groups.2 We did observe a blood pressure of 260/82 mmHg, which could be

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