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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Low BP And Fluid Filled Heart In Elders?

My grandad who 90 is currently in hospital. The nurses say he has very low blood pressure, on the machine it said 97. I dont know what that means! he is very tired and they say his heart is swollen and that they have to take the saline drip out because he has fluid building up around his heart. how can he have fuild building up? what fluid is it? blood?
Wed, 22 Oct 2014
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Internal Medicine Specialist,  's  Response
It sounds like your grandad may have congestive heart failure. Over time, for various reasons, the heart may become weaker and not pump effectively. When this happens, the blood does not flow properly and backs up. This causes loss of fluid into the nearby tissues. The fluid that backs up is usually the plasma part of the blood, not the red cells. When the heart is not pumping well, the blood pressure cannot be sustained at a normal level because the heart is too weak. This is also why he is very tired. Blood pressure is usually measured with 2 numbers, like 120/80. You don't mention the second number, so I am assuming the blood pressure is 97/?. 97 as the top number is on the low side, but is not horribly low. They might be giving him medicine to keep it at that level if the nurses said he had very low blood pressure. That would be when the top number starts getting into the 80s and lower. Hope this answers your question.
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What Causes Low BP And Fluid Filled Heart In Elders?

It sounds like your grandad may have congestive heart failure. Over time, for various reasons, the heart may become weaker and not pump effectively. When this happens, the blood does not flow properly and backs up. This causes loss of fluid into the nearby tissues. The fluid that backs up is usually the plasma part of the blood, not the red cells. When the heart is not pumping well, the blood pressure cannot be sustained at a normal level because the heart is too weak. This is also why he is very tired. Blood pressure is usually measured with 2 numbers, like 120/80. You don t mention the second number, so I am assuming the blood pressure is 97/?. 97 as the top number is on the low side, but is not horribly low. They might be giving him medicine to keep it at that level if the nurses said he had very low blood pressure. That would be when the top number starts getting into the 80s and lower. Hope this answers your question.