BLOOD PRESSURE AND EFFORT

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25305, 3 October 1947, Page 6

BLOOD PRESSURE AND EFFORT

FLUCTUATIONS SAID TO BE SHORT-LIVED

“I think that blood pressure is never constant. In the normal person blood Sressure is different when he is standig up from what it is when he is lying down, and when a person stoops there is an increase in cerebral blood pressure,” said Mr L. A. Bennett, surgeon, of Christchurch, when giving evidence in the Compensation Court yesterday. “My authority for saying that is that it is the recognised form of treatment for fainting, where there is said to be a lowering of pfessure in the brain” he continued. “I think that a man's blood pressure changes constantly with each effort he makes, particularly if there is any constriction in the upper part of the body at the time of the effort. Leaning forward or stretching would increase the blood pressure for a few seconds. “I think there is a rise in blood pressure in the case of a man who is apparently healthy, doing normal work to which he is accustomed.” “The effect of effort on blood pressure varies with the individual,” said Dr. C. G. Riley, a consulting physician, of Christchurch, when giving evidence in the same case. “I think we all must have an increase of blood pressure when doing ordinary work to which we are accustomed, because an increase bf blood pressure serves a definite purpose; it is a mechanism by which the blood undergoes redistribution favourable to effort already made. In any person blood pressure fluctuates throughout the day according to his activity, emotion, and so on. I think the fluctuations are short lived. I feel that, wherever he is working, no man works at a constant pitch and as his work varies the blood pressure will vary.” '