Question

I always though compliance of a vessel is a thing that prevents systolic pressure to goes up a lot and also prevents the diastolic pressure to goes down a lot, and that works because in arteriosclerosis we see that because of low compliance the systolic pressure goes up and diastolic pressure goes down therefore pulse pressure increases, but I see a graph that shows systolic and diastolic pressure changes with age, we say with aging the compliance of vessels come down,but as you see in the below graph, both diastolic and systolic pressure goes up(I also find this sentence in the textbooks), why does diastolic pressure go up? Why it doesn’t go down like with arteriosclerosis? And also pulse pressure goes up with aging. Both of the graphs are from Guyton, also I have this problem: What factors affect systolic and diastolic pressure? I search a lot but didn’t find anything.

Answer 1

Blood pressure changes with age due to reduced compliance of blood vessels and increased peripheral resistance. Factors that affect systolic and diastolic pressures include blood volume, blood viscosity, and blood vessel characteristics. Both systolic and diastolic pressures can increase with age, despite expectations from arteriosclerosis observations.

Step-by-step explanation:

Changes in blood pressure with age can be attributed to a range of factors, including a decrease in the compliance of blood vessels due to conditions such as arteriosclerosis. Compliance is the ability of blood vessels to expand and accommodate surges in blood flow without significantly increasing resistance or blood pressure. As we age, our arteries often become less compliant, leading to an increase in systolic pressure. However, diastolic pressure may also increase due to factors such as increasing peripheral resistance and reduced ability of the blood vessels to dilate, which forces the heart to pump against greater overall resistance.

Several factors affect both systolic and diastolic pressures, including the volume of the blood, the viscosity of the blood, and the length and diameter of the blood vessels. All of these factors can contribute to the overall resistance to blood flow, known as peripheral resistance, which directly influences blood pressure readings. Specifically, systolic pressure can spike due to increased cardiac output or arterial stiffness, whereas diastolic pressure can rise as a result of constant increased resistance in smaller blood vessels and reduced capacity for blood vessels to relax between heartbeats.