Tachycardia and blood pressure: relationship and causes

Is there a connection between pulse and blood pressure

In any critical situation, in order to assess the severity of a person's condition, I primarily focus on the numbers of blood pressure and heart rate.

Blood pressure and heart rate are closely related. Thanks to their regulation, normal blood supply to all internal organs is ensured.

In a physiological sense, the pulse always "adjusts" to the pressure. For example, with a decrease in blood pressure, the frequency of heart contractions increases compensatory in order to maintain blood circulation at the proper level.

However, if the pulse is too fast (pathological), the diastole time (the phase of the cardiac cycle in which the chambers of the heart are filled with blood) decreases. As a result, when the ventricles contract, less blood is released into the systemic circulation, which leads to a decrease in blood pressure and a deterioration in general circulation.

At what pressure does tachycardia occur more often?

To begin with, it is worth marking the normal values ​​of blood pressure and heart rate:

• pressure norm - from 105 to 129 mm Hg. Art. for the upper, from 65 to 89 mm Hg. for the bottom. Anything above is called arterial hypertension (hypertension); everything below is hypotension (hypotension);
• the rate of heart rate is from 60 to 90 beats per minute. Everything above is called tachycardia, everything below is called bradycardia;

However, there are also exceptions. For example, for people who are professionally involved in sports, the normal heart rate is 50-55 beats per minute. On the other hand, in children, the heart rate is much higher than in adults.

In fact, to the question "At what pressure does tachycardia occur more often?" no definite answer can be given. The pulse can become more frequent with normal, high, and low pressure.

The thing is that completely different mechanisms can participate in changes in heart rate and blood pressure: a decrease in the volume of circulating blood, the toxic effect of various substances on the cardiovascular system, excessive or insufficient release of hormones, impaired nervous regulation, etc.

Rapid pulse and hypotension

Short-term tachycardia and low blood pressure may be physiologic. The most striking example is dizziness, darkening in the eyes, mild nausea when suddenly getting up from the couch or bed after lying for a long time. Perhaps, almost every person has encountered such a phenomenon. It is called "orthostatic tachycardia, or hypotension." However, this should not be feared, since it is absolutely normal and physiologically justified.

A short-term decrease in blood pressure and an increase in heart rate are due to the redistribution of blood flow under the force of gravity to the lower parts of the body at the time of transition from a horizontal position to a vertical one.

The most dangerous conditions in which hypotension and rapid pulse are observed are the so-called paroxysmal arrhythmias. These include supraventricular, ventricular tachyarrhythmias, atrial fibrillation, and atrial flutter. Without emergency care, these heart rhythm disturbances can end very badly. Therefore, a person with a rapid heart rate, regardless of blood pressure indicators, must necessarily have an electrocardiogram.

Other pathological causes of low pressure tachycardia:

• anemia (anemia);
• bleeding. Chronic blood loss can occur in the presence of hemorrhoids, stomach ulcers or 12 duodenal ulcers;
• dehydration, for example, in patients with diabetes mellitus or with prolonged diarrhea;
• hormone deficiency - Addison's disease (adrenal insufficiency), hypothyroidism (decreased thyroid function);
• neurocirculatory (vegetative-vascular) dystonia;
• overdose of drugs for the treatment of hypertension, prostate adenoma or impotence ("Viagra").

I am often asked how to treat low blood pressure tachycardia. I always emphasize that you first need to find out the cause of hypotension.

Tachycardia at normal pressure

It may be such that the pressure is normal, and the pulse is high. This is usually due to the increased need of cells for oxygen, a short-term release of hormones into the bloodstream that stimulate heart contraction, or exposure to various toxins. The reasons may be as follows:

• exercise stress;
• emotional stress or neurotic disorder;
• any infectious diseases accompanied by an increase in body temperature;
• smoking;
• excessive consumption of coffee and "energy" drinks;
• heart defects (especially often tachycardia is observed with mitral valve prolapse);
• pregnancy - due to hormonal changes in the third trimester, there may be an increase in heart rate with normal blood pressure.

Hypertension and heart palpitations

Tachycardia and high blood pressure are most common in people who have hypertension in combination with other cardiac pathologies (chronic heart failure, cardiomyopathy, myocarditis).

In my practice, I often see patients in whom an increase in heart rate and blood pressure can be a sign of various endocrinopathies, such as:

• diffuse toxic goiter (hyperfunction of the thyroid gland) - the patient becomes irritable, he loses weight, his temperature rises slightly, he is worried about excessive sweating (perspiration, hyperhidrosis);
• Itsenko-Cushing's disease / syndrome (formation in the adrenal glands or in the brain, producing a large amount of glucocorticoids) - obesity occurs, purple or purple stretch marks appear on the skin of the abdomen, thighs, blood glucose concentration increases, bone strength decreases;
• pheochromocytoma (a tumor of the adrenal glands, excessively producing adrenaline and norepinephrine) - there are paroxysmal significant increases in blood pressure and heart rate, often leading to stroke and heart attack.

It also happens that hypertension and tachycardia are the result of an overdose of drugs - antidepressants, psychostimulants, adrenomimetics (vasoconstrictor nasal drops).