Essay On High Blood Pressure

High Blood Pressure (Kaley Barnes)

Sheldon G. Sheps

Book

Sheps, Sheldon G. Mayo Clinic on High Blood Pressure. Rochester, MN: Mayo Clinic, 1999.

Print.

The Mayo Clinic’s book on High Blood Pressure was full of detailed facts about blood pressure and what it is. This is extremely significant to the experiment because blood pressure is one of the variables being tested. Understanding blood pressure is one of the key components to receiving accurate results from this experiment. Most of the book is on high blood pressure, which is not necessary for the experiment, but the book still had plenty of useful information about blood pressure itself. The book explains that when the heart beats, a surge of blood is released from the left ventricle. It also tells of how arteries are blood vessels that move nutrients and oxygenated blood from the heart to the body’s tissues. The aorta, or the largest artery in the heart, is connected to the left ventricle and is the main place for blood to leave the heart as the aorta branches off into many different smaller

arteries. In order to keep all the blood moving and flowing, there is a pressure that is needed. To quote the book, “Blood pressure is the force that’s exerted on your artery walls as blood passes through.” This information is extremely useful because it will help understand the data better. The book also explains that there are three organs that help keep blood pressure from getting too high or too low. These organs are the heart, arteries, and the kidneys. The heart helps control blood pressure by circulating blood throughout the body. The harder the heart has to work to release blood, the greater the force is put upon the arteries. The arteries help control themselves from having to have such an exerting force placed upon them by being lined with muscles that allow them to expand and contract as blood passes through them. The arteries should be as elastic as possible so that they are less resistant to the flow of blood. Lastly, the kidneys are used to regulate sodium in the body and how much water circulates throughout. Sodium retains an abundant amount of water, os the more sodium there is, the more water is in the blood, and the higher the blood pressure. This is why the kidneys try to keep the sodium levels to be a normal amount so that blood pressure doesn’t increase too high. This information was very useful in understanding how blood pressure works.
This source is very reliable because it comes from the Mayo Clinic, a very well trusted medical company that has many detailed and advanced books, websites, and articles. There is some bias in this book because it is focusing on the negatives of high blood pressure, but it is still reliable because it gives very knowledgeable information about blood pressure that is not meant to persuade anyone. The detailed facts and statistics can be found in other sources too, which shows that it is common knowledge among this field, and that the information is not skewed to try to please the readers.
How to Read an EKG Scan (Alex Cohen)
How to Read an EKG Strip
Website
"How to Read an EKG Strip." How to Read an EKG Strip. RnCeus. Web. 10 Nov. 2015
In this source published by RnCeus, there is information on how to read and understand an EKG scan.

In this article, it tells how an EKG scan is on grid paper and each small block, which is one millimeter (mm) long, represents 0.04 seconds and each larger box, which is five millimeters long, represents 0.2 seconds. On a EKG scan, the voltage of the heart is measured in millivolts (mV) along the y-axis. On the scan grid, ten millimeters is equal to one millivolt. According to this source, in order to calculate the beats per minute (BPM), one divides the number of number of large boxes between each heart beat (QRS wave) in 300 small boxes. However, that used for a more consistent and steady heart rate. For a more varied and irregular rhythm, one has to count the number of QRS waves in six seconds and then multiply that number by ten. For an example, if there are eight QRS waves, then the estimated heart rate would be 80

BPM.
This source is a reliable source of information because this information comes from an official nursing school for nurses and people looking to become nurses. This source has factual information on health and medical care details. This source has no bias towards any side of medical standards making this source a more trustworthy source of information.
Lung Capacity Micah Hinson
Boundless
Website
"Lung Volumes and Capacities - Boundless Open Textbook." Boundless. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.
The information provided about lung capacity from this source was essential to the background knowledge for this experiment because none of the group members could thoroughly explain the finer points of lung capacity and lung capacity is one of the dependent variables. There are three key concepts about lung capacity; spirometry, residual volume, and tidal volume. Spirometry is a measurement of how much air a human can move in and out of their lungs. To test this in the experiment, group members are using a spirometer which is discussed in greater detail later. Residual volume is the volume of unexpended air that is left in the lungs after the maximum expiration. Expiration is the exhale of a breath. Finally, tidal volume is the measurement of normal breathing-- inhaling and exhaling. The information from this site served as background information necessary to conduct the experiment because without this information, group members wouldn’t know what they are testing for.
In addition to these three concepts, it was also learned from this site that the maximum lung capacity is six liters in males. With this in mind, group members can be aware of results that seem reasonable and unreasonable depending on the gender being tested. Also, the six liter maximum gives group members a comparison point with all the collected data. This will be beneficial because it will allow for a clearer explanation of the results in the presentation.
This source is decently credible because the main purpose is to educate readers. Sources that are used for education purposes are more credible than other sources because the information from educational sources is mostly factual and true as opposed to opinion based statements.
Spirometer Probe (Micah Hinson)
Vernier
Website
"Medical Spirometer." The Lancet 135.3466 (1890): 251. Vernier. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.
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This source, found on the Vernier website, was extremely beneficial because none of the group members knew anything about the spirometer probe except that it would help test lung capacity. From this website, the purpose, parts, and assembling and disassembling the probe were learned. There are three main purposes of a spirometer probe, to calculate forced expiratory volume (FEV), forced vital capacity (FVC), and tidal volume (TV). FEV is testing the volume of air after a short time. FVC is the volume of air exhaled by a forced maximal exhalation after a full inhalation. TV is the volume of air inhaled and exhaled at rest. For the intent of the experiment being conducted, the group will be testing the FVC which best relates to lung capacity. There are only two main parts to a spirometer, the flow head and handle. The flow head is the piece that the test subject breathes through, and the handle is the actual sensor in which the computer software being used collect the data. With these two pieces, the assembly is actually quite simple. Group members will push in the two latches at the top of the handle so that they splay outward. Then the group will line up the two small holes on the base of the flow head with the two ports inside the top of the handle. Finally, group members will press down firmly on the flow head until it securely attaches to the handle and push the latches in to lock the flow head in place. For disassembly, group members simply push on the latches at the top of the handle until they splay outward, then pull up on the flow head, and finally remove it from the handle.
This source is definitely credible because it was published by Vernier, and Vernier is the company who produced the spirometer probe. Therefore, Vernier knows more about the spirometer probe than any other source, which means the information provided by Vernier is the most accurate and useful.
The use of the spirometer is very similar to the blood pressure probe that is being used because of the measurement of major organs in the body. Also, the information learned about both of these probes will be used to conduct the experiment properly instead of just guessing how the probes work.