Regulating Ventilation and Pulse rates 4.1

The blood pressure is normally measured via a sphygmomanometer blood pressure varies between systolic and diastolic pressure, systolic pressure is peak pressure in the arteries which occurs near the end of the cardiac cycle when ventricles are contracting, diastolic pressure is minimum pressure in the arteries which occurs near the beginning of the cardiac cycle, when ventricles are filled with blood an example of normal measured values for a resting healthy adult is 120 mmHg systolic and 80mmHg diastolic 120/80.
Blood pressure is a force exerted by circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels and is one of the principle vital signs during each heart beat, blood pressure varies between a maximum (systolic) and a minimum (diastolic) pressure, the mean blood pressure due to pumping of the heart and resistance blood vessels, decrease as the circulating blood moves away from the heart through arteries, the greatest decrease is in the small arteries and arterioles and continues to decrease as the blood flows through the capillaries and back to the heart through veins.
Blood pressure refers to the pressure measured on a persons upper arm, it is measured at the elbow at the brachial artery, this is the upper arms major blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart.
We can measure the pulse manually at the wrist this is done by placing two fingers and counting the beats per minute, other places we can find a pulse are the neck, the tops of our legs and foot. the reason we check the pulse is to detect the blood flow through the arteries, an abnormal reading could tell us that they are suufering from a blockage, which could eventually lead to a heart attack or stroke.
Our body's temperature needs to be kept at a certain level for the body to run efficiently. the bodies temperature can rise and fall due to the activities we are doing on a daily basis. this can be due to physical exercise, it is important that after our bodies have endured exercise, it goes back to normal, this is called homeostasis this allows the body to remain at the correct level. we take our temperature with a thermometer, this either place in the mouth or electronically in the ear this measures the core temperature,and usually used in a hospital. the thermometers placed in our mouths contains mercury, keeping a regular check on a persons temperature enables us to see if someones health is deteriorating.
We measure someones respiratory rate by watching the chest rise and fall, we count how many times this happens in a minute, this is best done without the patient knowing as they may try to breathe faster or slower. this helps us to find out if they are suffering from illnesses like Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and Emphysema. a normal reading is between 8-17 breathes per minute, anything higher or lower than this can indicate a persons deterioration.
Another way to find out if the lungs are working correctly is to take a peak flow reading, it measures the speed at which we exhale this is normally used in asthmatics to see how wide their bronchial tubes are, this read by blowing into a peak flow meter this is a long tube. we take the average reading from three blows and can indicate a problem when readings are to low or to high, a low reading in an asthmatic could indicate an attack and they need to use prescribed inhalers.
Chemorectors in the carotid arteries and aorta detect the levels of carbon dioxide in the blood, they monitor the concentration of hydrogen ions in the blood which increase the ph of the blood as a direct result of the carbon dioxide concentration the apneustic centre sends a nervous impulse to the intercostal muscles and diaghram via the phrenic nerve to increase breathing rates.