Causes & Remedies for Low Blood Pressure

Causes & Remedies for Low Blood Pressure

The blood pressure in the body must remain within the normal range, and any violation can result in problems caused by high or low blood pressure. While hypertension or high blood pressure may lead to a stroke or a heart disease, hypotension, or abnormally low blood pressure, it can potentially lead to shock or low blood perfusion into organs or tissues.

Blood pressure generally refers to systemic arterial blood pressure, the pressure applied by blood on walls of the large arteries that carry blood to other parts of the body. While the pressure is a result of the blood pumping from the veins back into the arteries, the fluctuations in pressure are mainly due to the pulsating nature of the cardiac output.

Like the physics of all fluid systems, it is difficult to understand how the circulatory system in the body is affected. A number of factors can influence the blood pressure in the body and result in lowered levels, such as:

Abnormally slow or fast heart rates
Less volume of blood in the body
Inefficiency of the heart to pump blood
Resistance due to narrowing of blood vessels
Thickness of the blood
Dehydration due to excessive sweating or chronic diarrhea and vomiting
The above factors are of great importance for an individual’s autonomic nervous system. On the micro level, however, individual blood pressure depends on the complex system of split-second autonomic responses such as reflexes, hormonal releases, and body systems.

Some other factors that can lead to a low blood pressure include:
Septicemia, or the presence of pus-forming bacteria or their toxins in the blood or tissues

Excessive bleeding due to internal or external injuries
Toxic doses of high blood pressure medications.
Hormonal abnormalities
Sometimes blood pressure drops due to the gravity factor, known as orthostatic or postural hypotension: for example, while standing from a sitting position
The involuntary autonomic nervous system response quickly constricts the veins below the heart to increase their rate, counterbalancing the gravity effect that causes postural hypotension. Replenishing and maintaining a healthy intake of fluids normally takes care of the drop in blood pressure due to dehydration or blood loss. Profuse blooding needs to be treated separately.

Attending the underlying cause usually restores the blood pressure to normal. Septicemia is treated with antibiotics and intravenous fluids. A low heart rate is normally due to a drug effect. The doctor will change the class of the drug or dosage to check the dropped pressure. Abnormally high heart rate may be due to muscular twitching. Both require oral medications or invasive techniques.

Like natural remedies for high blood pressure, there are natural remedies for low blood pressure, too. Homeopathy has constitutional and specific remedies made form natural substances that can provide long-term solutions for maintaining blood pressure. A healthy constitution is better equipped to respond quickly and helps in maintaining blood pressure within normal ranges.