Is a blood pressure of 50 over 22 bad?

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I'm staying down here in Jacksonville Florida with some friends of the family, and this elderly woman who is their grandmother (who hasn't been doing too well lately), was sleeping in a chair, when all of a sudden she awoke with a jolt. She said she felt all weird and dizzy, like she was going to pass out. She had her blood pressure read (she has a machine with her at home), and it was 50 over 22. She then laid down in the bed and propped her feet up. About an hour later, she took her BP again and it was 100 over 70 something.

With blood pressure going that low, was this something to be concerned about? (She's had a lung transplant a few years ago, and she's been on all kind of medication).

Theres what you call an orthostatic hypotension, pooling of blood to extremities when you suddenly change position from supine to upright.

That's why we are not allowed to stand immediately after waking up. It is not good for the heart also, lowering of the BP that low means theres already a problem on the contractility of the heart.

Too much nitroglycerin or meds for chest pain can also cause these hypotension aside from anti hypertensive drugs because the main action of the drug is vasodilatation or widening of the veins.

The most dangerous of having a bp of 50/20 is it could lead to shock, it's like having a serious bleeding.




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