Normal Blood Pressure for Adults

Woley [Footnote: Woley, II. P.: The Normal Variation of the Systolic Blood Pressure, THE JOURNAL A. M. A., July 9, 1910, p. 121.] after studying, the blood pressure in a thousand persons, found that the systolic average for males at all ages was 127.5 mm., while that for females at all ages was 120 mm. He found the average in persons from 15 to 30 years to be 122 systolic; from 30 to 40, 127 mm., and from the ages of 40 to 50, to be 130 mm.

Lee [Footnote: Lee: Boston Med. and Surg. Jour., Oct. 7, 1915.] examined 662 young men at the average age of 18, and found that the average systolic blood pressure was 120 mm., and the average diastolic 80 mm. Eighty-five of these young men, however, had a systolic pressure of over 140. It is not unusual to find that a young man who is very athletic has an abnormally high systolic pressure.

Barach and Marks [Footnote: Barach, J. H., and Marks, W. L.: Blood Pressures: Their Relation to Each Other and to Physical Efficiency, Arch. Int. Med., April, 1914, p 648.] in a series of 656 healthy young men, found that the systolic pressure was above 150 in only 10 percent, and that in 338 cases the diastolic pressure, read at the fifth phase, did not exceed 100 mm. in 96 percent

Nicholson [Footnote: Nicholson: Am. Jour. Med. Sc., April, 1914, p. 514.] believes that with a low systolic pressure and a large pressure pulse there is probably a strong heart and dilated blood vessels, while with a low systolic pressure and a small pressure pulse the heart itself is weak, with also, perhaps, dilated blood vessels. If there is a high systolic pressure and a correspondingly high diastolic pressure, the balance between the vessels and the heart is compensated as long as the heart muscle is sufficient. He believes the velocity of the blood in the blood stream may be roughly estimated as being equal to the pressure pulse multiplied by the pulse rate.

Faber 44 [Footnote: Faber: Ugeskrifta f. Laeger, June 10, 1915.] examined 211 obese patients, and in 182 of these there was no kidney or vascular disturbance. In 52 percent of these 211 persons the systolic pressure was under 140, while in the remaining 48 percent it ranged from 145 to 200 mm.