Fall 2019
BIO160
Name(s): _____Evelyn Alvarado________________________________________
Date: _______________________________ Class days/times ___________________________________
Lab 13: Blood Pressure and Pulse Online lab
This is a modified version of the lab done in class
Blood flow
refers to the movement of blood through a vessel, tissue, or organ. Ventricular
contraction ejects blood into the major arteries (aorta and pulmonary trunk). Then, blood
continues to follow a pressure gradient as it travels through smaller arteries, arterioles,
capillaries, venules, and veins.
Blood pressure
is the force exerted by blood upon the inner walls of the blood vessels. The term
blood pressure without any specific descriptors typically refers to systemic arterial blood
pressure—that is, the pressure of blood flowing in the arteries of the systemic circulation. In
clinical practice, this pressure is measured in mm Hg and is usually obtained using the brachial
artery of the arm.
Figure 20.10 Systemic
Blood Pressure
The
graph shows the
components of blood
pressure throughout
the blood vessels,
including systolic,
diastolic, mean arterial,
and pulse pressures.
Heart rate (HR) can be measured by using a stethoscope to
auscultate
, or listen, to heart
sounds. Each heartbeat is detected as a series of two sounds. In a normal, healthy heart, the
first sound is created by the closing of the atrioventricular valves during ventricular contraction
and is normally described as a “lub” sound. The second heart sound is created by the closing of
the semilunar valves during ventricular diastole and is described as a “dub” sound.
The term
murmur
is used to describe an unusual sound coming from the heart that is caused by
the turbulent flow of blood. Murmurs are graded on a scale of 1 to 6, with 1 being the most
common, the most difficult sound to detect, and the least serious. The most severe is a 6.
HRs vary considerably, not only with exercise and fitness levels, but also with age. Newborn
resting HRs may be 120 bpm (beats per minute). HR gradually decreases until young adulthood
and then gradually increases again with age. For an adult, normal resting HR will be in the range
of 60–100 bpm.
Bradycardia
is the condition in which resting rate drops below 60 bpm, and
tachycardia
is the condition in which the resting rate is above 100 bpm.
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