Pulse and Pulse Pressure

Pulse and pulse pressure are two wonderful parameters of circulatory system in association with cardiac cycle. Anybody and everybody can feel pulse, but there are very few who could recognize pulse and diagnose ailments in the light of pulse characteristics. Arterial pulse is a wave of increased pressure which is felt in the arteries when blood is pumped out by the heart. It may conveniently be felt at a point where an artery lies superficially over a bone. The most common is the radial artery at the front of the wrist. Pulse may also be felt at the temporal artery over the temporal bone or the dorsalis pedis artery at the bend of ankle. Pulse is the pressure transmitted from the aorta which travels faster than the blood. The pulse rate is directly associated with the cardiac cycle. The pumping rate of the heart varies in a normal person with reference to age and emotional state. Pulse rate may also vary in a person in relation to activity of the body like walking, running, sleeping or after taking food. If the pulse count is 72 per minute, the cardiac cycle would have occurred 72 times per minute.

The Cardiac Cycle: The pumping events which take place in the heart during handling of blood for the circulation to various organs and tissues of the body, are called cardiac cycle. As we know, the action of heart is controlled by sino-atrial-node (S.A.) and is described in two parts, systole or contraction and diastole or relaxation. Contraction of atria (upper chambers of heart) is called atrial systole and their relaxation is called atrial diastole. It is worth mentioning here that the left and right atria contract or relax simultaneously. The contraction and relaxation of ventricles (lower chambers of heart) is called ventricular systole and ventricular diastole respectively. It is pertinent to add that the ventricular contraction lasts 0.3 seconds and the relaxation phase is about 0.5 seconds. The only time, the cardiac muscle gets rest is during the periods of ventricular diastole. The heart keeps on beating continuously the day and night during the life.

Normal Pulse Rate in Relation to Age or Stage of Life

Stage of Life	Pulse: Beats/minute
New Born	135-140
During the first year of life	115-120
During the second year of life	105-110
At the age of 5 to 10 years	95-100
At the age of 11 to 18 years	80-90
Adults	60-80

Blood Pressure and Pulse Pressure: Arterial Blood Pressure is the force of pressure, which the blood exerts against the walls of blood vessels during circulation. The blood pressure varies during thecardiac cycle. The cardiac cycle has been discussed above. The blood pressure recorded as upper or systolic blood pressure and lower or diastolic blood pressure. During the ventricular systole, when the left ventricle forces the blood into the aorta, the pressure rises to a peak and is called systolic blood pressure. During the diastole the pressure falls and the lowest value it reaches is called diastolic blood pressure. The range of systolic blood pressure in an adult is 105 to 130 mm Hg (millimeters of Mercury) and the range of diastolic blood pressure is 60 to 80 mm Hg. As the age advances the range of systolic blood pressure increases as 130 to 150 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure ranging from 80 to 90 mm Hg is considered normal. In women the blood pressure is 5 to 10 mm Hg less than in men. The difference in systolic anddiastolic blood pressure is called the pulse pressure and normally it should be around 30 to 50 mm Hg.