THE PULSE and BLOOD PRESSURE

Your pulse is your heart rate or the number of times your heart beats in one minute.

Pulse rates vary from person to person. Your pulse is lower when you are at rest and increases
when you exercise (more oxygen-rich blood is needed by the body when you exercise).

Pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle by trained fingertips. The pulse
may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the
body, such as at the neck, wrist, at the groin, behind the knee, near the ankle joint, and on foot.

The best places to take your pulse are at your wrist, inside the elbow, at the side of your neck, or
on the top of your foot. You can also take your pulse at your groin, on your temple, or behind
your knees. The pulse felt on the neck is called the carotid pulse

Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure exerted by blood on the walls of a blood vessel that helps to
push blood through the body. Systolic blood pressure measures the amount of pressure that
blood exerts on vessels while the heart is beating. ... Blood pressure is related to the blood
velocity in the arteries and arterioles.
The primary function of blood pressure is to move blood around the body through the
circulatory system. Our blood is full of oxygen and nutrients that feed the body's tissues
and organs.

A sphygmomanometer, also known as a blood pressure meter, blood pressure monitor,

or blood pressure gauge, is a device used to measure blood pressure, composed of an
inflatable cuff to collapse and then release the artery under the cuff in a controlled
manner. A mercury or aneroid manometer to measure the pressure.