What Causes Low Blood Pressure?
Understanding what causes low blood pressure.
Low blood pressure can be a problem. Yes, you heard me right. Hypotension, commonly known as low blood pressure, can cause serious health problems.
I’m Heart Healthy Henry and I’m going to help you understand what causes low blood pressure.
Hypotension
Hypotension is the scientific term for low blood pressure. While it is generally best to have low blood pressure, blood pressure that is too low can lead to other problems and complications especially in older individuals. So the question is, what causes low blood pressure?
What Causes Low Blood Pressure #1 -- Blood Loss
Blood loss is one of the most common causes of low blood pressure. When the body loses too much blood, your blood pressure can drop dangerously low. When this happens, a blood transfusion may become necessary.
What Causes Low Blood Pressure #2 -- Dehydration
Dehydration is another cause of low blood pressure. This is why it is so important to keep yourself hydrated, especially during exercise and illness. If you do experience extremely low blood pressure due to dehydration, you will likely need to go to the hospital for intravenous fluid treatment.
What Causes Low Blood Pressure #3 -- Medication
Medication can also cause low blood pressure. If you are experiencing low blood pressure and you’re on prescription medications, you’ll want to check with your doctor to see if the medications you’re taking could possibly be the culprit of the condition.
Why it’s Important to Treat
While it’s important to know what causes low blood pressure, it’s also important to understand why it’s so important to treat it should your begin experiencing it.
Without treatment, your low blood pressure can actually cause brain damage, coma or death. When your blood pressure is too low, your brain cannot get enough oxygen.
This is why people often faint when their blood pressure is too low. Then, when they faint and fall down their heads become even with their hearts and they regain consciousness because the heart doesn’t have to work so hard to get blood to the brain.
Now that you know what causes low blood pressure and why it’s so important to treat it should it occur, you can be sure that you’ll take the proper steps should you experience any of the signs or symptoms of the condition.