A quick method of estimating the venous pressure by lowering and raising the arm has long been utilized. The dilatation of the veins of the back of the hand when the hand is raised should disappear, and they should practically collapse, in normal conditions, when the hand is at the level of the apex of the heart. When the venous pressure is increased, this collapse will not occur until the hand is above the level of the heart. Oliver [Footnote: Oliver: Quart. Med Jour., 1907, i, 59.] found that the venous pressure denoted by the collapse of the veins may be shown approximately in millimeters of mercury by multiplying by 2 each inch above the level of the heart in which the veins collapse. When a normal person reclines after standing there is a fall in venous pressure, and when he again stands erect there is an increase in venous pressure.
Bailey [Footnote: Bailey: Am. Jour Med. Sc., May, 1911, p. 709.] states that in interpreting pulsation in the peripheral veins, it should not be forgotten that they may overlie pulsating arteries. Pulsation in veins may be due also to an aneurysmal dilatation, or to direct connection with an artery. As the etiology in many instances of varicose veins is uncertain, he thinks that they may be caused by incompetence of the right heart, more or less temporary perhaps, from muscular exertion. This incompetence being frequently repeated, peripheral veins may dilate. Moreover, the contraction of the right heart may cause a wave in the veins of the extremities, and he believes that incompetency of the tricuspid valve may be the cause of varicosities in the veins of the extremities.
NORMAL BLOOD PRESSURE FOR ADULTS
Woley [Footnote: Woley, II. P.: The Normal Variation of the Systolic Blood Pressure, THE JOURNAL A. M. A., July 9, 1910, p. 121.] after studying, the blood pressure in a thousand persons, found that the systolic average for males at all ages was 127.5 mm., while that for females at all ages was 120 mm. He found the average in persons from 15 to 30 years to be 122 systolic; from 30 to 40, 127 mm., and from the ages of 40 to 50, to be 130 mm.
Lee [Footnote: Lee: Boston Med. and Surg. Jour., Oct. 7, 1915.] examined 662 young men at the average age of 18, and found that the average systolic blood pressure was 120 mm., and the average diastolic 80 mm. Eighty-five of these young men, however, had a systolic pressure of over 140. It is not unusual to find that a young man who is very athletic has an abnormally high systolic pressure.
Barach and Marks [Footnote: Barach, J. H., and Marks, W. L.: Blood Pressures: Their Relation to Each Other and to Physical Efficiency, Arch. Int. Med., April, 1914, p 648.] in a series of 656 healthy young men, found that the systolic pressure was above 150 in only 10 percent, and that in 338 cases the diastolic pressure, read at the fifth phase, did not exceed 100 mm. in 96 percent
Nicholson [Footnote: Nicholson: Am. Jour. Med. Sc., April, 1914, p. 514.] believes that with a low systolic pressure and a large pressure pulse there is probably a strong heart and dilated blood vessels, while with a low systolic pressure and a small pressure pulse the heart itself is weak, with also, perhaps, dilated blood vessels. If there is a high systolic pressure and a correspondingly high diastolic pressure, the balance between the vessels and the heart is compensated as long as the heart muscle is sufficient. He believes the velocity of the blood in the blood stream may be roughly estimated as being equal to the pressure pulse multiplied by the pulse rate.
Faber 44 [Footnote: Faber: Ugeskrifta f. Laeger, June 10, 1915.] examined 211 obese patients, and in 182 of these there was no kidney or vascular disturbance. In 52 percent of these 211 persons the systolic pressure was under 140, while in the remaining 48 percent it ranged from 145 to 200 mm.
BLOOD PRESSURE IN CHILDREN
May Michael, [Footnote: Michael, May: A Study of Blood Pressure in Normal Children, Am. Jour. Dis. Child., April, 1911, p. 272.] after a study of the blood pressure in 350 children, came to the conclusion that the blood pressure in children increases with age principally because of the increase in height and weight, as she found that children of the same age but of different weights and heights had different blood pressures. Sex in children makes no difference in the blood pressure, it being determined by the height and weight.