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Medicine Facts

What Is High Blood Pressure?

High blood pressure is a blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg or higher. Both numbers are important. About one in every four American adults has high blood pressure. Once high blood pressure ... Continue reading

Ultrasound In Medicine

In medical testing, ultrasound equipment is used to produce a sonogram, or a picture of organs inside the body. Ultrasound scanners do not use X-rays. They use waves of such high frequency that they ... Continue reading

Ultrasound image of human fetus.

The Plague

Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. The bacterium is found mainly in rodents, particularly rats, and in the fleas that feed on them. Other animals and humans ... Continue reading

Prairie dogs sometimes carry plague.

Why Is Blood Pressure Two Numbers?

Blood pressure might better be called heart pressure, for the heart's pumping action creates it. To measure blood pressure, health workers determine how hard the blood is pushing at two different ... Continue reading

Blood pressure cuff measures systolic and diastolic pressure.