What is a pulse pressure? -

I m 20 years old with hypertension. I was put on Atenolol on Saturday and my doctor told me to buy a digital blood pressure monitor and keep a log of my blood pressure. What I don t understand is the pulse pressure....I thought it was the difference between the systolic and diastolic pressures. I took a reading and my blood pressure is 131/76(this is after atenolol) but it shows the pulse as 102. Shouldn t my pulse be 55?

The pulse pressure is the difference between the systolic (top number) and diastolic (bottom) blood pressure. Sounds like your monitor is counting your pulse which is the number of heart beats in one minute.

It s simply the difference between the systolic (high number) and diastolic (low number) pressures. It has nothing to do with heart rate. It s called pulse pressure because it s the pressure generated at the peak of the heart contraction. It s the wave front moving through the system. Pulse pressure is of interest when it s abnormal. For instance, a very narrow pulse pressure can indicate a physical heart problem. Now, your pulse was shown as 102 by the monitor. Heart rate varies greatly with exertion, illness, fever, fatigue, etc. It can also go up when you test your blood pressure if you re fearful of finding it high. Learn to take you own pulse, resting your index and middle finger on your wrist on the thumb side. Once you figure out where to take, it you can find it again quickly. Checking it at random will show you how it changes. One side effect of Atenolol can be a slow pulse. If it consistently runs around 100 while you re at rest (sitting quietly for ten minutes), ask your doctor about it next time. A heart rate of 100 won t hurt you before then, and it may just be that you naturally run a faster rate. Some people have a normal resting rate as low as 40 and are just fine. Normal is pretty much what s normal for you, unless it gets dangerously high or low.

it is when you heart is beating to fast