Form 4 science students at St Margaret College Secondary School Verdala, Cospicua, recently learned about blood pressure and how to measure it with an electronic sphygmomanometer. The project was related to their study unit about the heart and blood pressure.

The students learnt that ‘blood pressure’ was the force exerted by blood pushing against the walls of a body’s arteries and that it normally rises and falls throughout the day.

They learnt that it is measured using two numbers. The first number, called systolic blood pressure, measures the pressure in the arteries when a heart beats. The second number, called diastolic blood pressure, measures the pressure in the arteries when the heart rests between beats. The ideal blood pressure measurement is 120 systolic and 80 diastolic, or 120/80 mmHg.

They went on to learn about high blood pressure or ‘hypertension’, its causes and dangers. If someone’s blood pressure is consistently higher than 140/90mmHg, the higher risk that the person may suffer heart disease, a heart attack or a stroke. A low blood pressure – a reading lower than 90/60 mmHg – is called ‘hypotension’.

High blood pressure usually develops over time as a result of unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as lack of regular physical activity. Diabetes and obesity can also increase the risk for developing high blood pressure. 

High blood pressure can damage a person’s health in many ways – it can damage arteries by making them less elastic; this decreases the flow of blood and oxygen which can seriously damage important organs such as the heart, brain, kidneys and eyes.

In most cases, one can avoid high blood pressure and the risk of serious health problems by getting at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day, avoiding  smoking, opting for a healthy diet, including limiting one’s salt intake and alcohol consumption, keeping a healthy weight, and managing stress.

At the end of the project, with the students’ consent, their  senior science teacher Martin Azzopardi used an electronic sphygmomanometer to measure their blood pressure. LSEs Antoinette Cassar Sare, Ruben Buttigieg and Mandy Bonnici assisted the students and Azzopardi during the project.