Question

Question 116 (iii)

Health Application A doctor reports blood pressure in millimetres of mercury (mm Hg) as a ratio of systolic blood pressure to diastolic blood pressure (such as 140 over 80). Systolic pressure is measured when the heart beats and diastolic pressure is measured when it rests. Refer to the table of blood pressure ranges for adults.
Manohar is a healthy 37 yr old man whose blood pressure is in the normal category.
Calculate the ratio of average systolic to average diastolic blood pressures in the prehypertension category.

Answer 1

Average systclic blood pressure in prehypertension category
$=\frac{120+139}{2}=\frac{259}{2}mmHg$
Average diastolic blood pressure in prehypertension category $=\frac{80+89}{2}=\frac{169}{2}mmHg$
Hence, ratio of average systolic to average diastolic blood pressures
$=\frac{Averagesystolicbloodpressure}{Averagediastolicbloodpressure}=\frac{\frac{259}{2}}{\frac{169}{2}}=\frac{259}{2}\times \frac{2}{169}=\frac{259}{169}$
Hence, required ratio is 259 : 169.