The Carbon County news. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1924-1931, 1928-07-05
sgg4;;55SzOhe Road qo#SoNIn
ElBetterI
Ss0Health6iiia
Low Blood Pressure
BY DR.. ARTHUR L. FORSTER
Copyright 1927, Bonnet-B Brown Corp)

Low Blood Pressure
So much attention is given to high
blood pressure that we are prone 10
overlook the fact that there is such
thing as low blood pressure, and that
its consequences are manifold ana
marked.
What Is Blood Pressure?
The pressure of the blood against
the walls of the vessel in which 1t is
circulating must be of certain de-
gree at all times. The vessel walls
being elastic, expand and contract
lust enough to keep the tension within
at proper level. Needless to say
the vessel is always completely 1lled
with blood regardless of the actual
volume of blood it contains.
The degree of the pressure as eN-
pressed in figures on the glass tube
of mercury or the dial of other types
of instruments used for registering
the tension is entirely arbitrary. 1t
was arrived at by observing what the
average was in large number OF
normal individuals of given age. IL
was likewise observed that in certain
diseases this pressure is higher or
lower than in normal persons.
Natural Rise of Blood Pressure
AS the individual grows older and
rigidity replaces the elasticity OF
youth, the blood vessels do not so
readily expand and contract in pro-
portion to their blood content. There
is hardening of the arteries" The
result is an increase in the tension
within the vessels.
The constant amount of blood in
various parts of the body causes
static condition in those parts. That
is to say, it works at fixed rate-the
same at all times-and at lower
basis of efficiency, The individual
slows up both mentally and physl-
cally. Which explains the axiom that
"a man is as old as his arteries"
When the Pressure Is Low
When the pressure is low we find
several accompanying conditions; The
heart action is slow and inefficient;
the temperature is sub-normal; there
is a feeling of lassitude. The subject
lacks ambition-he has no pep.
this becomes so extreme
that he loses consciousness. Generally,
however, he is just "low." Or, as one
Of my patients said to me recently,
I'D sell out cheap, the way | feel"
Two underlying factors seem chiefly
for low blood pressure;
A focal infection and low endoctine
activity. The first is to be found gen
orally in the colon (arge bowel) and
can be remedied by changing the in
testinal flora through implanation of
acidophilus bacillus. The second, a
distinction of the ductless glands,
(adrenals, thyroid, gonads) is over
come through administration of ex-
tracts of these glands until the gen
eral condition of the patient has been
improved to a point where these
glands perform their work properly.
The focal infection may be situated
in other localities than the colon-in
the teeth or tonsils. A case l had,
last year, in which the pulse pressure
was only 8, had been diagnosed as
heart disease, anemia, and a half
dozen other conditions. Removal of
badly infected tonsils jumped the
pulse pressure to 80 in less than a
month, and the patient made rapid
and complete recovery.
High blood pressure is unquestion-
ably more dangerous to life than low
blood pressure, However, whether
to feel half dead is preferable or not
is an individual matter of choice. |
have known some whose preference
leaned strongly to the former.