DEAR DOCTORS: I’m a 97-year-old woman. Sometimes my blood pressure drops, and I faint. It lasts just a few seconds, because as soon as I’m prone, I wake up. I don’t have any cardiac issues, and there’s no pain. It’s just a sudden funny feeling, then I’m out. What might be causing this?
DEAR READER: Each time the heart beats, it sends a surge of freshly oxygenated blood into the closed loop of the circulatory system. The result is a sustained force against the walls of the arteries, veins and capillaries, which we refer to as blood pressure. It allows blood to move continuously through the circulatory system, which is largely passive, and makes possible the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to tissues and cells throughout the body.
When we think about how blood pressure can adversely affect health, the focus is primarily on hypertension. That refers to blood pressure…
