Measuring blood pressure

When measuring blood pressure, there are two numbers that must be taken: systolic pressure and diastolic pressure. The systolic pressure can be determined by where the meter is when you first hear a pulse beat while the diastolic pressure is determined by the number on the meter when the sound of the beat changes and blood flows better as the pressure is released more. To measure blood pressure, a sphygmomanometer and stethoscope is used while when measuring heart rate, either the fingers or stethoscope are used. However, using your thumb is not ideal when measuring heart rate since the thumb has a heart beat! Using a sphygmomanometer can actually be quite simple. First, wrap the cuff around a person's right bicep and find their heartbeat in or near the crook of their elbow. Before beginning, make sure the person has their palm facing up and arm propped up, around chest level. Then close the valve on the pump and pump the cuff until the pressure gauge reaches 150, then slowly release the air (by opening the valve). Watch the gauge and the number it is on when the first heartbeat is heard is the systolic pressure while the number on it when the sound of the heartbeat changes to a whooshing sound, is the diastolic pressure.

	Nicole	Cassi
Blood Pressure Test 1	205/60	100/58
Blood Pressure Test 2	94/60	104/62

	Test 1 (Nicole)	Test 2 (Cassi)
Pulse rate (radial)	60	66
Pulse rate (carotid)	60	72
Stethoscope	66	72

Unit 2 Reflection

Health is a measure of our well-being, physically, mentally, and socially. This includes maintaining our nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, and our social lives. As a high school student, health should be my top priority however, I have come to find that I am not as healthy as I believe myself to be. Although I run daily and have good relationships with my friends and family, the amount of nutrients and sleep I receive are not enough while my stress levels are too high. From what I have observed, many of my peers are in this position as well. Therefore, to promote greater health and wellness on campus, cheaper and healthier options should be served in the cafeteria and a weekend of no homework each semester could be enforced to help reduce stress and allow students more time to sleep. A couple weeks ago I had read an article about the necessity of good sleep and how our technology centered world has changed the sleeping patterns of many all around the globe.

This unit centered around the five pillars of health: nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress and social, and their physical effects on the body. I learned that the keys to a healthy diet follow four simple rules: adequacy, moderate, variety, and balance. By following these, it is actually quite simple to maintain a healthy and balanced diet with a variety and sufficient amount of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water. In addition to nutrition, exercise is also essential to a body's well-being and is proven to have many health benefits. Sleep also has a strong correlation to health as it rests, renews, and repairs the body and restores, organizes, sorts out the brain. Studies on sleep deprivation have revealed its terrible effects and consequences such as impaired performance, mood, and immunity. Stress is another pillar of health that is commonly found in students and results in poor effects as well. Although we covered some anatomy that relates to the five pillars of health, the four major hormones that regulate our body mechanisms and maintain homeostasis, keeping us healthy, are still a little unclear. In the next unit, I aim to spend more time on sections that I do not fully understand and do extra research on those sections if necessary as well.




 Edward Wilson's new take on human nature raises new discussions regarding man's rise.

Monday Wellness Reflection- Stretching

The topic of stretching is one that I have found to be underrated, or at least not very well researched or understood by my peers. It has also interested me since I run and dance and have always wondered what could help improve me and whether stretching was actually beneficial. So when I was researching stretching, I focused my search on what it does before and after exercise or a sport. However what I found most interesting was not the effects of stretching but rather how the muscular, skeletal, nervous, and circulatory systems worked together to make our bodies contract and move. As I was looking more into that aspect of stretching, there was a tremendous amount of detail that went into it- muscles are composed of motor units which are then made up of muscle neurons and cells which are then divided into sarcomeres, which are then made up of different proteins! Overall though, stretching is found to have many health benefits and there are several studies that have studying its benefits in athletes or sedentary people over long periods of time. The main benefit of stretching is for increased flexibility and mobility for whatever sport or activity that will be done but it is also used for better posture and blood circulation which is helpful to sedentary people as well. On a scale of 1-10, I would grade myself 9 because I think we could have made our activity more interactive since the video went too fast for the entire class.