B2 K EEPING H EALTHY Lesson 10: Blood Pressure and Lifestyle Factors

O BJECTIVES MUST interpret blood pressure readings and explain the risk of high blood pressure SHOULD understand that a range of heart rates and blood pressures are normal COULD describe how scientists carry out epidemiological studies and understand some of the risks of cannabis and Ecstasy

K EY W ORDS You need to be able to define the following: Blood pressure High blood pressure Epidemiological study

T EXTBOOK A NSWERS 1)Heart disease (or stroke, or heart attack). 2)High blood pressure can damage the blood vessels and cause them to narrow or harden, reducing blood flow and making the heart work harder. 3)High blood pressure causes diseases that can be fatal (such as heart disease) but does not have any symptoms. Many people don’t know that they have high blood pressure. 4)The higher figure is the pressure in the arteries when the heart is contracting; the lower figure is the pressure when the heart is relaxed. 5)To make sure it is the factor being investigated (i.e. the one that is different) that is causing the effect. 6)Smoking is already known to be very damaging to the health.