Your
heart is an organ that is mostly muscle tissue. It
is a pump. In very simple terms its job is to receive
incoming blood from the body that is low in oxygen
and pump it to the lungs.
As it passes through the lungs the blood gets rid
of carbon dioxide and picks up oxygen. Then the blood
goes back to the heart and the heart pumps the oxygen
rich blood out to the entire body.
Blood
flows through arteries going out from the heart to
various parts of the body, and through veins on the
way back to the heart.
The
heart pumps blood by the rhythmic contraction of the
four chambers in the heart. It is the strong contractions
of the lower two chambers (called ventricles) that
pumps the blood out of and away from the heart to
the various parts of the body.
There
is a great deal of pressure created by the contraction
of the ventricles. and it is this pressure that pushes
the blood through the miles of arteries within the
body.
It
is the pressure, the force of the blood pushing against
the inside walls of your arteries, that is being discussed
when we talk about blood "pressure."
What
do the numbers mean?
You've
probably heard the sound of a heart beating at some
time. It sounds sort of like: thump-THUMP, thump-THUMP,
thump-THUMP, thump-THUMP.
The
"thump" is the sound of the auricles beating
and pumping the blood into the bigger, more powerful
chambers, the ventricles. The "THUMP"
is the sound of the ventricles beating, and pumping
the blood away from the heart (see the above illustration).
When
the powerful ventricles contract (the "THUMP"),
that is the moment of greatest pressure called the
"systolic pressure."
Between
one "thump-THUMP" and the next "thump-THUMP"
is a moment when the heart is not beating at all,
that is the moment of lowest pressure called the "diastolic
pressure."
When
doctors or nurses measure your blood pressure, they
usually give it to you as two numbers, the "systolic"
over the "diastolic" or the high over the
low measurements.
The
WSN® Blood Vessel Support Formula is a medical
food specifically formulated for the dietary management
of hypertension (high blood pressure). To
be used under medical supervision as part of your
on-going medical treatment. This product is
not intended for use by children under the age of
twelve or by pregnant or lactating women in the
treatment or management of hypertension (high
blood pressure).
The Food and Drug Administration has not evaluated these claims pertaining to these medical foods. These medical foods are intended for the dietary management of hypertension and not intended to "diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease," because only a drug can legally make such a claim.
