Expert Insights on Low Blood Pressure

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Expert Insights on Low Blood Pressure

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Causes And Treatment Of Low Blood Pressure (Hypotension)

Low blood pressure, also known as hypotension, occurs when your blood pressure is much lower than the expected levels. This can either be a condition on its own or be a symptom of other underlying causes. Low blood pressure does not always come with symptoms, however if you do experience symptoms due to this, you may require medical attention.

You may have heard more about how dangerous high blood pressure is, but you should also pay attention to low blood pressure. You have low blood pressure if you consistently get readings below 90/60 mmHg. This means that your heart is not pumping blood hard enough to get enough oxygen and nutrients to the organs and tissues in your body. While it might seem counterintuitive, low blood pressure can pose serious health risks.

When blood pressure drops too low, several things can go wrong. You may feel lightheaded or dizzy, especially when standing up quickly. Fainting spells can occur, and in severe cases, low blood pressure can even cause shock, a life-threatening condition in which your organs don’t receive enough blood flow.

Chronic low blood pressure can have far-reaching effects on your overall health. Lack of consistent blood flow to the brain may make it harder to focus and remember things. You might feel unusually tired or weak, impacting your daily activities and quality of life.

Making an appointment with our Atlanta heart doctors is a proactive step toward better health. Our cardiologists are experts in diagnosing and treating blood pressure issues, including hypotension. They will perform comprehensive tests to determine the cause of your low blood pressure, which could range from dehydration to heart problems or certain medications.

During your visit, you’ll receive personalized care and treatment. This might include lifestyle modifications, medication adjustments, or other interventions to help regulate your blood pressure. Addressing low blood pressure early can prevent complications and improve your overall well-being.

Don’t wait for symptoms to worsen. Take charge of your heart health today by scheduling an appointment with our Atlanta heart doctors. Your cardiovascular system is too important to ignore, and our team is here to help you maintain optimal health.

Read more about low blood pressure and how CVG provides comprehensive cardiac care.

Types Of Low Blood Pressure

Hypotension has two different definitions, depending on which form of low blood pressure you are experiencing. Absolute hypotension is when your resting blood pressure is below 90/60 mmHg (millimeters of mercury). Neurally mediated hypotension is a form of low blood pressure that occurs when you are standing for long periods of time.

Orthostatic hypotension is when your blood pressure drops within three minutes of you standing up from a sitting position. To meet the requirements for orthostatic hypotension, your systolic blood pressure (the top number) must drop by 20 mmHg or more and your diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) must drop by 10 mmHg or more. Since this form happens with changes in posture, it is also referred to as postural hypotension.

Risk Factors For Low Blood Pressure

You may have an increased risk of low blood pressure depending on your diet, age, and level of physical activity. Having a nutrient deficiency, such as not receiving enough folic acid or iron, can result in anemia, which may lead to low blood pressure. Blood sugar alterations, like those caused by diabetes, can also increase your risk of developing low blood pressure.

Causes Of Low Blood Pressure

Hypotension can occur due to a wide variety of causes. For orthostatic hypotension, it occurs when you stand up too quickly and your body is unable to compensate with more blood flow to your brain. It can also be caused by central nervous system diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, because these conditions affect how your nervous system controls your blood pressure.

Other causes include low blood volume which can be caused by dehydration or blood loss from severe injuries, heart and lung conditions, and prescription medications. Life threatening conditions such as irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias), pulmonary embolism, heart attacks, and a collapsed lung can also create low blood pressure. Low blood pressure can also be caused by alcohol or recreational drugs, pregnancy, or extreme temperatures.

Testing For Low Blood Pressure

Hypotension itself is very easy to diagnose, as it only consists of taking a blood pressure measurement. The difficulty lies in determining the underlying cause of your low blood pressure. Your doctor may order a blood or urine test to look for factors such as diabetes, vitamin deficiencies, thyroid or hormone problems, anemia, or pregnancy.

If your doctor suspects that a heart or lung condition is responsible for your hypotension, they may order imaging tests such as X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, or echocardiograms. Diagnostic testing may also be necessary to rule out any specific heart problems, so you may require an electrocardiogram (EKG), exercise stress testing, or tilt table test.

Treatment For Low Blood Pressure

To treat hypotension, the first step is determining the cause. If the underlying cause of this condition is treatable, then low blood pressure will typically resolve itself during treatment. If the cause of hypotension is not determined, treatment still exists to manage the condition, although it is only curable if there is an underlying cause that is curable.

Treatment for hypotension includes increasing blood volume, which can be done through IV fluids, plasma, or blood transfusions. Your doctor may also prescribe medications that cause your blood vessels to constrict, or medications that force your kidneys to retain fluid and salt in your body, which will help to manage low blood pressure.

Symptoms Of Low Blood Pressure

The most common symptoms of hypotension occur due to your brain not receiving enough blood flow. These symptoms include dizziness or feeling lightheaded, nausea or vomiting, fainting, blurred or distorted vision, shallow breathing, fatigue, confusion or trouble concentrating, and agitation. If you experience an increase in symptoms or your symptoms are the result of taking prescription medications, contact your doctor.

Complications Of Low Blood Pressure

If you are suffering from hypotension, you may experience some complications. These include falls and fall-related injuries since fainting is a common symptom, heart problems and stroke, and shock. Heart problems can occur because low blood pressure may cause your heart to pump faster or harder to try and compensate, which over time may lead to heart damage or even heart failure.

Stroke can occur due to blood not flowing as it should, which may cause blood clots. Shock can occur because your organs may begin receiving less blood, which can cause them to shut down due to limited oxygen and blood flow.

Why Choose CVG?

At CVG, our cardiologists offer extensive experience caring for patients using state-of-the-art techniques. Their compassion adds so much to your care because our doctors understand how heart issues can affect you physically and take an emotional toll. Trust is the #1 factor in the doctor/patient relationship. You can trust your CVG cardiologist with every aspect of heart care.

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Board-certified Doctors

CVG’s twenty board-certified heart doctors will guide you through your healthcare journey with the utmost compassion and individual attention. We aim to provide you with state-of-the-art cardiac care that includes the full spectrum of services, from testing to diagnosis and treatment. The doctor/patient relationship is built on trust. Through our combined efforts, we can conquer any challenge that comes our way.

Invasive therapies may also treat an abnormal heart rhythm, such as electrical cardioversion, which sends electrical impulses through your chest wall and allows normal heart rhythm to restart, or catheter ablation that disconnects the abnormal rhythm’s pathway. Suppose your doctor determines that electrical devices are the best course of action. In that case, you may be given a permanent pacemaker, an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), or biventricular (B-V) pacemakers and defibrillators.

How CVG Can Help

CVG offers multiple services that can discover an enlarged heart or conditions that will lead to it. At CVG, we perform stress tests that will observe blood flow and test for various forms of heart disease. There are three types of stress tests that we perform:

A treadmill test is a test in which you will walk on a treadmill that gets faster and steeper every 3 minutes. This will stress your heart so that our nurse or doctor can determine your heart rate and blood pressure.
An echo test is performed before and after your treadmill test to determine how well your heart pumps blood.
A nuclear stress test is a treadmill test that is prefaced by an injection of medicine that shows the flow of blood to your heart.

We also offer cardiac catheterization to diagnose and treat several heart issues. If any of these tests determine a problem, we offer treatment solutions such as atrial fibrillation testing and catheter ablation. Learn more about our services here, or schedule an appointment to talk to our doctors.

Schedule Your Appointment with a CVG Atlanta Area Cardiologist

Expertise, experience, and compassion are the pillars of CVG’s patient-centered cardiac care. Please schedule your appointment with CVG today. Call (770) 962-0399 or 678-582-8586. You may also request an appointment online. If you have an emergency, don’t contact us online; please call 911.