Questions posted in the Heart Forum have been answered by doctors from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Question Title: Extreme Low blood Pressure

Forum: The Heart Forum
Topic: Heart Disease


Every time I go in to the Dr. office the Nurses run and tell all about my pressure yet no Dr. or Nurse has ever given me advise on my pressure. They all just say how does she stay on her feet! Today my pressure at the Dr. office was 70/48. Is there anything I need to worry about. I seem to get around fine except in the hot summers I tend to get a little light headed when out in the sun from time to time.


Dear Dora,
This blood pressure is normal for you. Given that yes it is low compared to most people, you simply do not have much room for error, for instance, you will feel dizzi a lot sooner than someone say with a BP of 120/80. The reason you feel light headed in the summer is that the blood vessels dilate alittle to allow heat to dissipate off the skin in the heat, and that dilation means an even lower pressure for you and the brain doesn't like it much lower that 70/50 and thus you feel lightheaded. The best thing for you to do Dora is drink a lot of fliuds and don't skimp on the salt, especially in the summer months.

I hope this information is useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for
general purposes only. Only your physician can provided specific diagnoses and therapies.
Feel free to write back with further questions. Good luck!

If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please
call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at
www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the
cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your
cardiac problem.

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