Blood pressure was measured with a small hand held instrument called a sphygmomanometer (blood pressure). (Greek Sphygmomanometer measures pulse and gauge.) The blood pressure cuff consists of an air pump, a manometer and a rubber grip. The device measures blood pressure in units called millimeters of mercury (mm Hg).
The cuff is placed around the upper arm and inflated with an air pump at a pressure that blocks the flow of blood into the aorta (artery) that travels through the intestine. The arm is then extended to your sides at the same level as the heart and the pressure cuff on the arm and artery gradually released. When the pressure is decreasing in the cuff, a health practitioner listens with a stethoscope over the artery on the front of the elbow. The pressure at which the practitioner first hears a pulsation of the artery systolic pressure (the top row). As cuff pressure decreases further, the pressure at which the pulsation finally stops is the diastolic pressure (the lower number).
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