KOMPAS.com – Blood pressure and pulse are two measurements your doctor can use to monitor your heart condition and your overall health.
While similar, the two can each say very different things about what’s going on in your body.
Pulse rate or heart rate refers to the number of times your heart beats in one minute.
Also read: 9 Symptoms of a Weak Heartbeat to Watch Out For
Heart rate measurement ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute.
Meanwhile, blood pressure is a measure of how strongly the heart pumps blood around the body.
The value for blood pressure is 120/80 mmHg.
The number 120 shows the level of pressure when the heart pumps blood around the body or what is commonly called systolic pressure. Meanwhile, the number 80 means the level of pressure when the heart rest for a moment before returning to pumping again or often called the diastolic pressure.
If you are under stress high blood pressure with low pulse rate, that means you have blood pressure reaching 130/139 mmHg, but your heart beats less than 60 beats per minute.
To consider how your pulse and blood pressure can affect each other, think of your pulse as the electrical system and your blood pressure as a plumbing.
Launch Health Line, Your pulse is largely controlled by electrical impulses. These impulses travel through your heart, telling your chambers to beat at the same time.
Also read: 9 Causes of High Blood to Watch Out for
Exercise, stress, fear and other factors can speed up your pulse. Meanwhile, being inactive can slow it down.
This electrical system stimulates the pumping motion that drives your heart’s piping system.
If the “tube” or blood vessel is not blocked, blood can easily flow through it.
However, if your blood vessels are narrow or have some kind of blockage, your heart has to work harder or beat faster to pump blood. This can produce high blood pressure or hypertension.
When your blood pressure and pulse are out of balance, your heart will strain. You may also experience a variety of symptoms, such as:
- Confusion
- Difficulty exercising
- Dizzy
- Fainting or nearly fainting
- Fatigue
- Hard to breathe
- Feeling weak
Also read: 6 Effects of High Blood in the Body that Worth Anticipating
In very extreme cases, low heart rate and high blood pressure can cause a heart attack.
Summarize Medical News TodayThere are several possible causes for high blood pressure and low pulse rate.
Here’s what could happen:
1. Side effects of drug consumption
Some medical conditions or medications can cause high blood pressure and low pulse rate.
Beta-blockers are a class of drugs sometimes prescribed by doctors to treat high blood pressure and reduce the effects of heart failure.
Examples of beta-blockers include:
Atenolol (Tenormin)
Metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol XL)
Nebivolol (Bystolic)
Propranolol (Inderal)
These drugs work to block beta receptors in the heart. Stimulating these receptors increases your heart rate, while blocking them can lower your heart rate.
A lower heart rate is beneficial for people who have heart problems because it allows more time for the heart to fill.
When the heart beats slower, it also requires less oxygen. This reduces strain on the heart and “restes” the organ.
Doctors sometimes prescribe beta-blockers for people who have high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, or heart arrhythmias when the heart beats irregularly.
For this reason, someone who already has high blood pressure can have a lower heart rate with beta-blockers.
How to fix it:
Your doctor may also prescribe other medications to lower blood pressure, including:
- Calcium channel blockers
- Angiotensin receptor blockers
- Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors
This medicine does not usually affect heart rate when dealing with blood pressure.
2. Refleks Cushing
Cushing reflex is a rare occurrence that causes low pulse rate and high blood pressure.
Reflex is the result of the body’s response to increased intracranial pressure.
The intracranial pressure itself is the pressure inside the head and is a measurement of blood pressure in the brain.
As an illustration, the brain is located in the skull. So if it swells, only so far can the brain develop. As a result, the swelling causes the intracranial pressure to increase.
The Cushing reflex is one of the body’s ways to try and keep the pressure from getting too high on the skull. This signals the receptors in the heart to slow down the heart rate to lower intracranial pressure.
Severe medical conditions usually activate the Cushing reflex.
These conditions include:
- Brain tumor
- Concussion
- Hypoxia
- Meningitis
- Stroke
- Trauma
- Bleeding to the brain
How to fix it:
The Cushing reflex is an emergency.
Once doctors recognize this condition, they will try to find out and treat the cause and reduce the intracranial pressure in the brain.
If the pressure becomes too high, it can permanently damage the brain. A person can die from too high intracranial pressure.
Symptoms of a recognizable Cushing reflex, including:
So, for example, if you recently had a head injury and feel these symptoms, call your doctor immediately.
3. Problems with cardiac conduction
A low pulse rate can sometimes be an indicator of a problem with the heart’s electrical conduction pathways.
The heart has an electrical system that moves in different patterns to make the heart beat at a regular rhythm.
If there is damage, scarring, or excessive stretching of the heart, the electrical system may not work effectively. This condition can cause a low pulse rate.
Chronic high blood pressure can cause damage to the electrical system which in turn can cause a low pulse rate.
Other causes of damage include smoking activity, a history of heavy drug or alcohol use, including aging of the heart.
How to fix it:
A person whose pulse suddenly appears to slow down for no known reason should see a doctor. This is especially true if they feel dizzy or short of breath.
On certain occasions, a person may need a pacemaker or other intervention, such as heart ablation to repair damaged electrical pathways to the heart.
So, should you worry about high blood pressure and low pulse?
If you are taking blood pressure medication and have high blood pressure and a low pulse rate, this is usually nothing to worry about.
But if you are not taking any medication, it is best to consult a doctor to find out what happened.
A person should seek medical attention immediately if they have the following symptoms along with low pulse rate and high blood pressure:
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Feeling like to pass out or pass out
- Hard to breathe
- Chest pain
These symptoms may indicate that a person requires hospitalization and possibly a pacemaker to treat whatever is causing the underlying heart problem.
Keep in mind, the 60-100 beats per minute range is a measurement of the average pulse rate as well as the heart rate that most people need to pump enough blood around their body.
Some people may just have a lower pulse. Examples include athletes or those in great shape.
Where, they have “conditioned” their heart muscles to become stronger. As a result, their hearts are pumping more effectively or meaning they don’t need to beat too often.
Exercising can also temporarily increase your blood pressure.
So, if you exercise regularly, your pulse rate may naturally be low and blood pressure high as soon as you exercise.
Also read: How to count your pulse while exercising to prevent heart attacks
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