When a great deal of blood is diverted to the intestines (a kind of "splanchnic blood pooling") to facilitate digestion and absorption, the body must increase cardiac output and peripheral vasoconstriction to maintain enough blood pressure to perfuse vital organs, such as the brain. Postprandial hypotension is believed to be caused by the autonomic nervous system not compensating appropriately, because of aging or a specific disorder.Hypotension is a feature of Flammer syndrome, which is characterized by cold hands and feet and predisposes to normal tension glaucoma.Hypotension can be a symptom of relative energy deficiency in sport, sometimes known as the female athlete triad, although it can also affect men. Pathophysiology
Blood pressure is continuously regulated by the autonomic nervous system, using an elaborate network of receptors, nerves, and hormones to balance the effects of the sympathetic nervous system, which tends to raise blood pressure, and the parasympathetic nervous system, which lowers it. The vast and rapid compensation abilities of the autonomic nervous system allow normal individuals to maintain an acceptable blood pressure over a wide range of activities and in many disease states. Even small alterations in these networks can lead to hypotension. Diagnosis
For most adults, the optimal blood pressure is below 120/80 mmHg. If the systolic blood pressure is <90 mmHg or the diastolic blood pressure is <60 mmHg, it would be classified as hypotension.
Familial nasal acilia is a rare congenital defect which is characterized by the complete absence of cilia on the epithelial cells of the respiratory tract. Symptoms are common within ones family and start as soon as one is born, with signs such as respiratory distress, dyspnea, lobar atelectasis, bronchiectasis and neo-natal pneumonia. Other symptoms that occur later in life include chronic moist coughing, chronic sinusitis, chronic otitis media, chronic rhinitis, and recurrence of upper and lower respiratory tract infections.Exact prevalence is unknown, OrphaNet estimates this condition to affect less than 1 out of every million people worldwide. R Soferman et al. described this disorder to be "autosomal recessive". == References ==