What is the most life-threatening clinical condition that we call hypertension or high blood pressure? Now let's briefly explain this issue:
First of all, in order to answer this question, it is necessary to explain the function of blood in the body. The function of blood is to transport oxygen, nutrients and other substances to the cells in a safe manner and to remove carbon dioxide and waste substances formed in the cells. A certain pressure is required for blood to circulate easily in the body. If this pressure did not exist, blood could not move and therefore life would not exist. In other words, zero blood pressure means that the patient will die after a while.
How does blood pressure occur? To better understand this subject, it is useful to remember some information read in biology classes in middle school and high school. As you know, blood moves in the body through a system of pipes of different diameters and sizes, which we call vessels. This system of pipes are arteries, veins and capillaries. Arteries carry blood containing fresh nutrients, oxygen and other beneficial substances to the tissues. Now the following question will come to your mind: What does texture mean? Tissues are structures composed of similar cell groups and are of vital importance for our body. To give an example, brain tissue, muscle tissue, etc.
After blood is transported to the tissues through the arteries, it reaches the cells through the capillary system we call "arterioles". As it is known, cells are the most important building blocks of the human body. Cells work just like a factory. They ensure the maintenance of life by processing oxygen and nutrients. During this intense work, carbon dioxide and substances that can be harmful to the body are produced, just like the waste produced in factories. If carbon dioxide and waste materials are not removed from cells, they accumulate and cause cells and tissues to die or become damaged. Such potentially harmful substances must be removed from the cells. The carbon dioxide and waste materials formed in the cells are transmitted to the veins through the capillaries we call "venules". Veins carry these substances to the relevant organs so they can be eliminated from the body. This means that without the vascular system that surrounds the body like a network, it would not be possible to sustain life.
It throws and collects in the body. The veins are usually located side by side. However, the directions of the blood flowing within them are opposite to each other.
In summary, if we roughly define the vascular system, we can compare the blood vessels to the highway network surrounding the country. The highways that surround our country like a network are wide when leaving the cities and narrow when going to the districts and villages. Just like blood vessels surround the body.
Okay, now we have learned about the vascular system, so isn't there a need for a pump system to circulate blood within the vascular system? Yes, there is, just as the water coming to our homes is distributed with a pump system, a pump system is needed to ensure that the blood reaches the cells and tissues in the body under a certain pressure. The organ that functions as a pump in the body is the heart. The heart, located in the left chest cavity, works like a pump system that transmits city water and distributes blood to the body. Sometimes it speeds up, sometimes it slows down, sometimes it works strongly, sometimes it works less strongly. All this working mechanism is managed by the brain. The heart, about which poems and stories have been written, is actually a suction-pressure pump that works under the control of the brain. The organ that makes your heart beat faster when you are with your loved one is the brain.
Now let's talk about how the blood is distributed from the heart, which works like a pump. This is where the major and minor circulations come into play.
The great circulation begins with the aorta, the largest and widest vessel leaving the heart, and spreads throughout the body. The minor circulation begins with the pulmonary artery originating from the heart, carries carbon dioxide to the lungs, and the blood loaded with oxygen returns to the heart and is distributed throughout the body from there. The important difference between the small circulation and the large circulation is that in the small circulation, the arteries carry blood loaded with carbon dioxide. In the large circulation, arteries carry oxygen-loaded blood.
When the heart functions as a pump, it throws blood into the aorta at a certain pressure. This is the blood pressure we always say. As the arteries become thinner, blood pressure decreases. The pressure in the veins is lower than in the arteries. This pressure difference is necessary for the healthy circulation of blood in the body. We doctors are concerned about blood pressure. When we talk about it, we are talking about the pressure in the arteries, not the pressure in the veins. Here, "high blood pressure" or "hypertension" is the name given to the blood pressure in the arteries rising above normal values.
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