Blood Pressure Virtual Lab

From http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/virtual_labs_2K8/labs/BL_14/

Follow the virtual lab procedure, and answer the questions below.  Answer in complete sentences. Please leave spaces between questions and your answers.

1. What factors are known to cause increases in blood pressure?

The habits of an unhealthy lifestyle are mostly congruent to the factors raising blood pressure, such as inactivity, malnutrition, and stress.

2. Use your knowledge about the heart and the circulatory system to make a hypothesis about how the average blood pressure for a group of people would be affected by manipulating the age and gender of the group members.

If a high(er) age range is selected for testing, then their average blood pressure will be high(er).

3. What sorts of problems might a person develop who has chronic hypertension?

They could have increased risk of heart diseases, kidney failure, and/or cardiovascular problems, such as a stroke.

4. Analyze the results of your experiment. Explain any patterns you observed.

After the analyzing the results of the lab, for people between the ages of 18 & 54, Females had, on average, a lower blood pressure than males in their identical respective age group. This could be attributed to the double standards of society, where men are usually the ones working physically harder, and thus have a higher blood pressure because of the physical taxation. Secondly, I noticed that the more the survey boxes were checked “yes,” the higher the blood pressure of the patient would be. This is most likely due to the link of all of the questions in the survey to be factors in increasing heart pressure. Third, the older the age group was, the higher the average blood pressure would be. This is probably due to the continual process of atherosclerosis inside of our arteries, which lessens the space blood can flow through, and thus increases pressure. Lastly, I noticed a direct relationship of BMI (body mass index) value to blood pressure. A possible cause of this might, again, be due to atherosclerosis, as people with a high BMI usually have more fat.

5. Did the result of your experiment support your hypothesis? Why or why not? Based on your experiment what conclusion can you draw about the relationship of age and gender to group blood pressure averages?

Yes, it supported my hypothesis because the higher the age group I tested, the more people had hypertension. Also, the females of the group consistently had a lower blood pressure than the males, minus the 11-17 age group.

6. During the course of your experiment, did you obtain any blood pressure reading that were outside of the normal range for the group being tested? What did you notice on the medical charts for these individuals that might explain their high reading?

As, I mentioned before, the questions on the survey seemed to directly tie into the subject's blood pressure, and all of the topics: genetics (family history), a diet high in sodium, a lack of exercise, and whether the subject consumed alcohol were met with an elevated blood pressure when the subject answered positively.

7. List risk factors associated with the hypertension. Based on your observation, which risk factor do you think is most closely associated with hypertension?

Hypertension is caused by a variety of factors, some being: High BMI, alcohol consumption, old age, a high-sodium diet, a lack of exercise, and a genetic history of high blood pressure. The factor most closely related to being the hypertension source would probably be a family genetic history of high blood pressure, as more than half- actually around 70-80%- of the people with the highest blood pressure per age group had little in common other than the fact that they all admitted to having a family history of hypertension.

8. What effect might obesity have on blood pressure? Does obesity alone cause a person to be at risk for high blood pressure? What other factors, in combination with obesity, might increase a person's risk for high blood pressure?

What I noticed during the data analysis, was that every person that had a BMI of less than 30 did not have hypertension. There were people with a BMI of less than 30 that did have hypertension though, so it can’t be a surefire cause. Virtually all of the other factors mentioned in Q7 can influence your blood pressure, and thus whether you are considered to have hypertension or not.

Lab: Measuring Blood Pressure

Heart Rate Data Table

	Subject 1 (bpm)	Subject 2 (bpm)	Average for Subjects
Pulse Rate (radial)	80	52	66
Pulse Rate (carotid)	60	68	64
Pulse Rate (stethoscope)	72	64	68
Average of Subject	70.7	61.3	66

Heart Pressure Data Table

	Subject 1	Subject 2
Trial 1: Blood Pressure (systolic/diastolic)	109/84	111/71
Trial 2: Blood Pressure (systolic/diastolic)	111/78	120/80

Question 1

Systolic pressure is the highest pressure measured where you can still feel your heartbeat, while diastolic pressure is the lowest pressure measured while you can still hear your heartbeat.

Question 2

To measure heart rate, you can use your fingers (not your thumb) or a stethoscope. To measure blood pressure, use a syphgmomanometer- also known as a blood pressure cuff- in conjunction with a stethoscope.

Question 3

The thumb has its own pulse, and would throw off the results.

Question 4

After wrapping it around your upper arm, place the stethoscope on the artery and begin to use the air pump to increase the pressure. Once there is no longer a pulse, use the valve to slowly release the pressure. The pressure reading at the beginning of the blood flow noise is systolic pressure, while the reading when the noise dissipates is diastolic pressure.

Unit 2 Reflection

         Health is the state your body is in, relative to the complete working functions of the average human. I unfortunately, am not very healthy as the pillar of relaxation and recoup has crumbled for me. I get around two-thirds of the sleep I'm supposed to be getting, and see this phenomenon around campus with extreme frequency. There should be a mandatory time to turn in assignments online, but this cannot be regulated as well with written assignments and studying. A central theme of this unit was the ways to maintain homeostasis in your body, and keep that internal environment from breaking down                                                                                       through external and internal factors.
     I learned a little more about human bodies (their anatomy and physiology) such as the stress hormones like aldosterone and their function, like the production of adrenaline and the increase in retention of certain ions in the organs of the excretory system. I am still confused, however, on the idea that marriage can be good for health, as I didn't acquire that reading and the discussion about it was really short. In the next unit I will probably want to start studying before the day before the test, as this late-night study-session actually impairs my test taking ability. Well, we shall see.


        The implications of not getting enough sleep are highly prominent in my life, as I have seen in my daily life, like the one time I was so tired from pulling an all-nighter to write an essay, finish a project, and study for a test, I ended up with a low C on it. I wasn't able to process information and ended up sleeping with my eyes open for a good half of the test. This will hopefully reinforce my choices in the future about whether I should sacrifice sleep for extra studying time.


My goals were to get physically stronger by reinforcing as many of the pillars of health as possible, and that the end result would show itself at the 7 mile march at the Rose Parade, a strenuous test of both physical and mental strength.