Blood Pressure Online Lab

1.State a problem about the relationship of age and gender to blood pressure.
Some individuals have predisposing risk factors that contribute to hypertension. Age and gender are two risk factors that cannot be changed. Men over 50 have a greater possibility of blood pressure issues than women in her fifties. Diet, excursive, and life style choices can cut the risk factors for individuals drastically
2.Use your knowledge about the heart and the circulatory system to make a hypothesis about how the average blood pressure for a group of people would be affected by manipulating the age and gender of the group members.
I believe that if I take a Group of 10 men and 10 women between the ages of 25 -34, 35 - 44, and 45-54 I will see normal range blood pressures in both in the first group. In the second group I will start to see more men exgibiting hypertension than women, and in the third group the men will far outrank the women. I think this will be mainly to lifestyle habits, rather than hereditary issues.
3.How will you use the investigation screen to test your hypothesis? What steps will you follow? What data will you record?
I will take the given group of ten men, ten women in their mid twenties and record each of their blood pressures. (Males are group M-A, Female F-A) I will then average the mean systolic and diastolic pressures of the group. I will then take a look at each individual’s medical chart to discover the risk factors associated with the hypertension they are experiencing. I will record all of the risk factors to determine if nature supersedes nurture when it comes to hypertension. I will then take the same number of both men and women, from their mid thirties early forties and record all of the factors related to each of their blood pressures (Males are Group M-B, Females F-A), repeating then the same steps again, but the group will be in their mid fifties (Male Group M-C, Females F-C).
4.Analyze the result of your experiment. Explain any patterns you observed.
In my findings with my different groups I found that family history does play a big role in the case of hypertension, but my discoveries also proved my theory regarding lifestyle choices and diet and exercise are also true. I found that in Males ages 25 - 34, the main risk factor what alcohol and diet. In males ages 35-44 all risk factors were equal in playing a part in hypertension again the same seemed to be true for males between 45-54 years of age. The groups I analyzed surprised me with how different the blood pressures ranges were from that of my male groups. Women between the ages of 25-34 I found no hypertension in any of the individuals analyzed. In the next group of women I35- 44 years of age I had two cases of hypertension both were related to alcohol or diet. I was truly amazed with my next discovery of women ages 45-54; I did not have any hypertension cases in that age range.
5.Did the result of your experiment support your hypothesis? Why or why not? Based on your experiment what conclusion can you draw about the relationship of age and gender to group blood pressure averages?
My hypothesis was not supported by my experiment. I have discovered that gender, age, and family history do play a strong role in the cases of hypertension I observed. It seems that men over the age of fifty with a family history must be aware of the predisposed risk factors they have contributing to their health. There are still preventions that should be taken such as not drinking, smoking, living a healthy life with plenty of exercise, a good diet and plenty of laughs go along way.
6.During the course of your experiment, did you obtain any blood pressure reading that were outside of the normal range for the group being tested? What did you notice on the medical charts for these individuals that might explain their high reading?
Depending on the ages, younger males (25-34) seemed to have hypertension due to lifestyle choices, such as diet and alcohol consumption. Group M-B and M-C had an even amount of risk factors in their charts such as Family History (4:20), Alcohol (4:20), Diet (4:20), and Exercise (3:20). This does show that lifestyle factors outnumber heredity factors and should be looked at very carefully.
7.List risk factors associated with the hypertension. Based on your observation, which risk factor do you think is most closely associated with hypertension?
A brief look at some of the risk factors that contribute to hypertension are Family History, Age, Gender, Diet, Exercise, Alcohol, Smoking, Drugs, and Obesity. As I listed before Family History, Age, and Gender seem to out rank the other risk factors in my opinion because they can’t be changed.
8.What effect might obesity have on blood pressure? Does obesity alone cause a person to be at risk for high blood pressure? What other factors, in combination with obesity, might increase a person's risk for high blood pressure?
Obesity is caused by living an unhealthy lifestyle which I believe is not the cause of hypertension but the effect of the choices made by the individual. This lifestyle is full of the risk factors that contribute to hypertension, such as lack of exercise, high fat diets, not to mention any family history, gender and age.


Blood Pressure Table

Age of Individuals in Study
25-34yrs 35-44 45-54

131/81 118/78 132/83 Mens Blood Pressure

124/80 136/80 128/76 Womens Blood Pressure