What Affects Blood Pressure Readings?

Blood pressure is the force of blood against the arterial blood vessels when the heart contracts. Normal blood pressure varies throughout the day depending on activity. High blood pressure is diagnosed based on several readings. In order to accurately diagnose high, low or normal blood pressure, it is important to understand what affects blood pressure readings.

Anxiety

• Anxiety can raise blood pressure temporarily. If a person is consistently anxious, the blood pressure can be consistently elevated, leading to the same damage as chronic hypertension. "White coat syndrome" is a phenomenon in which a person becomes anxious and hypertensive when coming in contact with health care workers, who, at one time, traditionally wore white.

Stimulants

• Certain medications (cold medicines, antidepressants, ADHD medicines) and foods (caffeine, energy drinks) stimulate and raise the heart rate and constrict blood vessels, leading to increased blood pressure.

Pregnancy

• Dr. Paul Gibson says that pregnant women who become hypertensive develop chronic, gestational, transient and pre-eclamptic hypertension. High blood pressure is the most common complication of pregnancy; 15.7 percent of all maternal deaths are attributed to this complication.

Kidney Disease

• The adrenal glands and the kidneys are major factors in blood pressure control. High blood pressure damages the kidneys, causing them and the adrenal glands to work less effectively. Once the kidneys are damaged, they can worsen hypertension. Tumors in the kidneys or other kidney damage can also cause hypertension.

Diabetes

• Diabetes can indirectly cause hypertension. According to the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse, diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure that causes hypertension. Diabetes also causes narrowing of the blood vessels, which also leads to hypertension.

Lifestyle

• Smoking, a poor diet high in fat and salt, alcohol intake, obesity and a lack of exercise can lead to diabetes and atherosclerosis, which lead to high blood pressure. According to the McKinley Health Center at the University of Illinois, consistent exercise lowers blood pressure.

Low Blood Pressure

• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases says that dehydration, anemia, severe infection, heart disease and endocrine disorders can cause hypotension (low pressure).