Blood pressures and heart rate,in girls,during adolescence. A preliminary study of 1,700 cases

Abstract

The data were obtained from over 800 girls in the public schools of Ithaca, N. Y., whose ages ranged from 9 to 16 years and from about an equal number of young women in Cornell University, from 16 to 26 years old.

Blood pressures were taken by Korotkow's auscultatory method, using in all cases a Princo mercury sphygmomanometer. The reading for the diastolic pressure was made at the beginning of the fourth phase. All girls were examined in the sitting posture.

There is a rapid rise in the systolic pressure from 104 mm. at 9 years to approximately 124 mm. at 14 years. This remains at the same level through the next year. Then there is a rapid fall of over 10 mm. to 18 years. From that age on the pressure remains fairly constant around 110 mm. up to 26 years.

The diastolic pressure rises evenly from 63 mm, at 9 years to about 76 mm. at 14 years. It maintains about this level throughout the remaining years.

The pulse rate drops rapidly from 98 at 9 years to 80 at 18 years and then continues with little change.

Since, at 14 years of age, practically all girls in this climate have begun to menstruate, these curves would seem to indicate, that allowing 3 or 4 years for recovery from metabolic disturbances incident to the onset of puberty, the blood pressures and pulse rate vary little during the following 8 years.

In the height curves, the systolic pressure rises gradually from 104 mm. at 50 inches to 113 mm. at 69 inches. The diastolic pressure rises slightly more rapidly-from 64 mm. to 74 mm. The pulse rate drops rather evenly from 106 to 82 per minute.