Low blood pressure, also known as hypotension, is usually considered a sign of good health and low risk for cardiovascular disease. However, there are times when persistently low blood pressure or a sudden drop can be a sign of an underlying health issue that needs medical attention. Knowing when low blood pressure becomes a problem can help ensure timely intervention and proper care.

Blood pressure readings consist of two numbers:

Systolic pressure (the top number) indicates the pressure in your arteries when your heart pumps blood. Diastolic pressure (the bottom number) reflects the pressure in your arteries while your heart is resting between beats.

The normal reading is usually 120/80 mmHg or less. Hypotension is clinically defined as having blood pressure readings less than 90/60 mmHg. In some patients, low blood pressure will have no adverse health consequences and therefore does not need to be treated. In extreme cases, however, it can limit the flow of oxygen and nutrients to vital organs, resulting in potentially life-threatening complications, such as shock.

Causes of Low Blood Pressure

Hypotension can result from many factors. Some of the factors that cause hypotension are as follows:

• Insufficient fluid intake or excessive fluid loss can lead to decreased blood volume and hence hypotension.
• An injury or internal bleeding may result in hypotension. This happens because blood pressure becomes significantly reduced.
• Some hormonal changes along with the increased blood requirement during pregnancy also causes hypotension.
• Issues like heart failure or arrhythmias can impair blood circulation and result in low blood pressure.
• Certain drugs, including diuretics, antidepressants, and blood-pressure-lowering medications, can induce hypotension.

Symptoms of Hypotension

While low blood pressure may not always cause symptoms, it can sometimes be associated with:

- Dizziness or fainting

- Fatigue and weakness

- Blurred vision

- Nausea

- Confusion or difficulty concentrating

- Shallow breathing

- Palpitations

If the person experiences these symptoms, with the recorded blood pressure reading, the medical services have to be consulted.

Types of Low Blood Pressure

1. Orthostatic Hypotension: This is a kind of hypotension that appears as a result of decreased blood pressure when a person is standing up from lying down or sitting position and primarily affects elderly people.

2. Postprandial Hypotension: This is a drop in blood pressure after eating, more common in older people.

3. Neurally Mediated Hypotension: It is triggered by standing for long periods. This type can affect younger people and is associated with miscommunication between the brain and heart.

When Is Low Blood Pressure Dangerous?

There is no such thing as a universal threshold for very low blood pressure, but a blood pressure reading below 90/60 mmHg can be dangerous and require prompt medical assessment if accompanied by symptoms of fainting, confusion, or shortness of breath. Sudden falls in blood pressure may point to potentially serious underlying causes, which can include:

• Internal bleeding
• Sepsis (severe infection)
• Allergic reactions

Management and Treatment

Treatment of hypotension depends on its cause:

• Hydration Drinking more water can help against dehydration-related hypotension.
• Compression Stockings: These can improve circulation and reduce blood pooling in the lower limbs.
• Dietary Changes: Increasing salt intake under supervision can help increase blood pressure
• Medication Changes: The physician may need to reduce dosages of some medications or replace prescriptions.

For more severe cases, physicians might also administer fludrocortisone or midodrine to increase blood pressure. Shock from hypotension should be treated promptly to ensure proper function of organs.

Can Hypotension Cause Fatigue?

Chronic fatigue syndrome has also been associated with low blood pressure. Prolonged tiredness, despite adequate rest, may require reassessment of blood pressure levels. Fatigue secondary to hypotension will impact functionality and thus requires assessment and treatment of the cause.

When to Seek Medical Care

If your blood pressure readings are low consistently and without symptoms, you probably have nothing to worry about. If you do have symptoms like dizziness, fainting, or confusion, you need to go to the doctor. Blood pressure checks are usually conducted regularly. Once you are aware of your own normal baseline, you will know right away when there is something wrong.

Lifestyle Tips That Support Normal Blood Pressure

1. Other than directly treating hypotension, a healthy lifestyle overall would promote balanced blood pressure levels.
2. Exercise regularly; it promotes cardiovascular health and can help regulate blood pressure.
3. Focus on nutrient-dense foods rich in iron, B vitamins, and electrolytes to support circulatory health.
4. Excessive alcohol consumption dehydrates the body and lowers blood pressure.
5. Practices like yoga and meditation can help maintain a healthy blood pressure range.

A team of UK scientists has developed a non-invasive brush biopsy test that can detect oral cancer within just 60 minutes, potentially transforming the way the disease is diagnosed.

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London say the test could prevent more than 90% of unnecessary scalpel biopsies, reducing pain, infection risk and diagnostic delays. The findings were published in the journal Biomarker Research.

Early diagnosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is critical. However, most oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) are benign, meaning many patients undergo invasive scalpel biopsies that ultimately show no cancer.

These procedures can be painful, carry a risk of infection and, in areas such as the gums, can be difficult to perform and may damage the underlying tooth or bone.

Beyond diagnosis, researchers say the test could also help monitor patients with persistent OPMDs over time. Because the test is non-invasive and repeatable, it can be used for regular surveillance, improving the chances of detecting malignant transformation at an early stage, when treatment is most likely to be successful.

How Does The Brush Test Work?

The newly developed brush biopsy requires only a simple swab of the mouth, without removing any tissue. According to the researchers, the test can identify low-risk patients and potentially spare more than 90% of them from unnecessary invasive tissue biopsies. Another advantage is speed—the results are available within one hour.

"This test gives clinicians a rapid, accurate, and non-invasive way to triage patients, and crucially, it can be repeated. That means we can now monitor patients with persistent pre-malignant lesions regularly and systematically — and pick up cancers much earlier than we would have been able to before," said Muy-Teck Teh, Professor of Molecular Oral Oncology at Queen Mary.

How Was The Study Conducted?

The study is the largest of its kind, involving more than 1,000 samples from 545 patients. The team collected brush biopsies from the mouths of 545 patients with lesions that could potentially be cancerous.

The test was found to have an overall accuracy of 95.5 percent, with false-positive and false-negative rates of less than 5 percent. The results were available within an hour.

The latest study builds on an earlier version of the test, qMIDS-V2, which required a 1 mm microbiopsy and had already been validated using more than 530 samples from the UK, India and China.

The new qMIDS-V3 requires only a brush swab of the mouth, with no tissue removal, yet achieves test performance comparable to its microbiopsy predecessor.

Oral Cancer Remains A Growing Global Burden

According to Global Burden of Disease data, lip and oral cancer are among the world's fastest-growing causes of early death.

More than 10,000 people in the UK were diagnosed with oral cancer last year, while 3,637 people died from the disease, according to the charity Mouth Cancer.

Worldwide, oral cancer affects around 650,000 people every year. Major risk factors include tobacco use, smoking, alcohol, HPV infection and sun damage. More than 53% of mouth cancers are diagnosed at Stage IV, when the disease is at its most advanced.

What does it take to become a CEO? Decades of hustle and hard work. J Michael Prince, CEO of US Polo Assn., probably had the same idea. But after years of toiling away, he landed at a startling realization – he could have done it all without pushing himself to the limit. He recently opened up about the importance of work-life balance and setting aside time for yourself at the end of the day.

Work-Life Balance And Burnout

In a conversation with Fortune, Prince said that he now makes a conscious effort to avoid contacting his employees outside office hours unless it’s an emergency.

He said, “One thing I try to respect is—and this never really happened to me throughout my career—unless there’s something major going on, I try to leave people alone in the evenings, so you rarely ever get an email or text from me after the office.”

He spoke about the importance of personal time and allowing oneself to reset after a workday. “I leave the office, and I really try to respect people’s weekends, because I feel like that’s your family time, that’s your personal time, that’s your friendship time, that’s your time to reset, recharge spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally,” he added.

HealthandMe spoke to Dr. Samant Darshi, Consultant- Psychiatrist & Neuromodulation Expert, Director - Psymate Healthcare, Noida, about the importance of maintaining work-life balance to prevent burnout.

Read more: Doctors Day: From Burnout To Work Anxiety, The Mental Health Struggle Doctors Rarely Talk About

The expert says that it is necessary to maintain a balance between work and life since it helps in enhancing health and well-being, reduces stress, increases productivity, and develops meaningful relationships. Maintaining a balance would lead to higher job satisfaction and happiness in life.

Dr Darshi says, “Work-life imbalance increases levels of stress and anxiety and causes emotional exhaustion. Persistent stress can result in depression, insomnia, hypertension, decreased immunity, and cardiovascular diseases. Lack of rest and time for leisure activities causes a loss of concentration and low self-esteem, thus making everyday life more stressful and challenging.”

Tackling Burnout

Prince admitted he didn’t always give importance to work-life balance. Earlier in his career, he regularly worked 90-hour weeks, stayed up through the night, and rarely slowed down. Looking back, he said he could have achieved the same goals without sacrificing so much of his health and time.

Prince said, “I could have eaten differently, I could have been a little more thoughtful about my sleep, about my routine around working out, my travel.”

According to Dr Darshi, work-life imbalance leads to a feeling of burnout. Experiencing constant stress, unrealistic expectations, and lack of time for leisure gradually exhausts physical and emotional resources. Eventually, motivation tanks, productivity drops, fatigue, detachment, frustration, and inability to function increase.

He explains, “Burnout adversely impacts the mental state of an individual by causing symptoms such as emotional fatigue, anxiety, depression, irritability, and hopelessness. It causes demotivation and loss of focus in addition to making individuals feel insecure. If not addressed, it may adversely impact personal relationships, affect work, and cause chronic health conditions.”

While many people blame pollen or changing weather for their allergies, health experts say hidden allergens inside the home may be just as responsible. On the occasion of World Allergy Day on July 8, doctors highlighted that dust mites, mold, pet proteins, and household products are among the often-overlooked triggers that can affect indoor air quality and contribute to persistent allergy symptoms.

They also cautioned that chronic allergies should not be dismissed as a minor inconvenience, as they can affect sleep, respiratory health, and overall quality of life.

What Is A Chronic Allergy?

Dr. Sanjiv Dang, ENT & Allergy Specialist, Apollo Hospitals, Delhi, told HealthandMe that allergy symptoms lasting for weeks, months, or throughout the year may indicate chronic allergies and should not be ignored.

He explained that "allergies occur when the immune system overreacts to substances such as dust mites, pollen, mold, pet dander, or certain foods, releasing histamine". This can lead to symptoms including sneezing, nasal congestion, a runny nose, itchy eyes, and throat irritation.

Hidden Allergens Go Beyond Pollen

Also read: UK Met Office Warns of 'Pollen Bomb': What Hay Fever Patients Need to Know

Prof. (Dr.) Dwaipayan Mukherjee, Consultant ENT Surgeon, Kolkata, told HealthandMe that flower pollen is often blamed for seasonal allergies, but it is usually not the main culprit because its grains are larger and less likely to remain airborne. Instead, he said most seasonal allergies are caused by microscopic airborne pollen from grasses, weeds, and trees.

Dr. Mukherjee, also the Past President of the Association of Otolaryngologists of India (AOI), added that homes can also harbor numerous microscopic allergens that negatively affect indoor air quality. Common triggers include:

• Dust Mites

• Mold

• Pet Proteins

Household Products and Indoor Plants

Cleaning sprays, air fresheners, scented candles, and similar products may emit compounds that irritate sensitive airways and worsen allergy symptoms despite creating the impression of a cleaner environment.

Indoor plants can also become a source of allergens if mold develops in damp potting soil or if certain plants release pollen. Outdoor pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds can also enter homes on clothing, shoes, and hair before settling on indoor surfaces, the experts said.

How Persistent Allergies Affect Health

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Dr. Dang said chronic allergies are more than just a runny nose. Persistent nasal congestion can disrupt sleep, leading to snoring, frequent awakenings, daytime fatigue, poor concentration, reduced productivity, and mood changes.

He added that ongoing allergic inflammation can affect both the upper and lower airways. People with chronic allergies are at a higher risk of developing asthma, while those who already have asthma may experience worsening symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath.

Chronic allergies can also block normal sinus drainage, increasing the risk of recurrent sinus infections. Facial pressure, headaches, post-nasal drip, persistent congestion, and a reduced sense of smell may all indicate allergy-related sinus problems.

How To Prevent Chronic Allergies

The experts advised relying solely on over-the-counter medications, saying they may provide temporary relief without addressing the underlying cause. They noted that prolonged use of certain nasal decongestant sprays can even worsen congestion over time, and also recommended consulting a healthcare professional if allergy symptoms persist for several weeks or throughout the year.

To help manage chronic allergies, the experts recommended:

• Improving ventilation indoors.

• Controlling indoor humidity.

• Using HEPA air cleaners.

• Cleaning the home regularly.

• Eliminate excess moisture.

• Identifying and reducing exposure to allergy triggers.

• Controlling mold growth indoors.