Unit 2 Lab 1- Blood Pressure

State a problem about the relationship of age and gender to blood pressure.

When it comes to blood pressure, age and gender don't necessarily have anything to do with whether the person will have hypertension. There's also family history to look at, and every person is different. However, it does increase with age because the heart works harder.

Use your knowledge about the heart and the circulatory system to make a hypothesis about how the average blood pressure for a group of people would be affected by manipulating the age and gender of the group members.

Younger people will not have as many with BP problems as the older will, and men will have more problems than women. Also, BP will increase with age.
How will you use the investigation screen to test your hypothesis? What steps will you follow?

What data will you record?

I will have people of different ages and different sexes, and will follow all steps and record all data for an accurate study.

Analyze the result of your experiment. Explain any patterns you observed.

My observations were just as I had hoped. The BP of an average male is higher than an average female. Also, there were more cases if hypertension among men than women.

Did the result of your experiment support your hypothesis? Why or why not? Based on your experiment what conclusion can you draw about the relationship of age and gender to group blood pressure averages?

Yes, my experiment did support my hypothesis. Based on my data, I have found that the blood pressure of an average male is higher than that of an average female. Also, there were more cases of Hypertension among men than women, especially in the 45- 54 age group. Therefore, a man, age 45- 54, has a better chance of having high blood pressure then a woman of the same age range. But, a male, age 18- 24, has less of a chance then the older women, and a younger woman less than the younger man.

During the course of your experiment, did you obtain any blood pressure reading that were outside of the normal range for the group being tested? What did you notice on the medical charts for these individuals that might explain their high reading?

Of the 100 people I examined, 7 males and 6 females had above normal blood pressure. Of those 13 people, 5 claimed they don't exercise much, if at all, 4 claimed they have a high salt diet, 4 claimed to have a family history, 3 claimed they consume alcohol, and 3 claimed they had none of the above.

List risk factors associated with the hypertension. Based on your observation, which risk factor do you think is most closely associated with hypertension?

*Lack of exercise- exercise is good for the heart because it's a muscle. The more out of shape you are, the more out of shape your heart is, and it has to work harder.
*High Salt diet- some salt is good, but too much can be bad for you.
*Alcohol consumption- Alcohol is not good for your liver, which is a filter.
*Family history- You can't stop history, but if you treat your body well, you can delay the inevitable.
I would say that the risk factor most closely associated with hypertension is lack of exercise.

What effect might obesity have on blood pressure? Does obesity alone cause a person to be at risk for high blood pressure? What other factors, in combination with obesity, might increase a person's risk for high blood pressure?

I would have to say that obesity would most likely raise the blood pressure. Obesity alone does not cause high blood pressure, but it definitely does increase the risk. Most obese people are that way because of their lack of exercise, high salt diets, and in some cases, alcohol consumption. There may also be a family history of high blood pressure, which is precisely why an at risk obese person should drop the weight. They may get it anyway, but dropping the weight may delay it or stop it all together.