A Study of the Normal Blood Pressure in Indians

Introductory.?So far as we know the standards of blood pressure for normal individuals in this country have not been worked out. The standards that are commonly referred to for medical and insurance purposes are not based on data collected in this country, but have been borrowed from the records of foreign insurance companies. The present study was carried out on 10,000 persons from different parts ?f India. Every attempt was made to select healthy and normal individuals between the ages ?f 15 and 80 years, from both the rural and the urban populations. The blood pressure was taken by means of a mercury baumanometer, the auscultatory method being employed to take the readings. The diastolic reading was taken at the point when all sounds disappeared. The ten thousand cases under investigation consisted ?f both males and females, and individuals belonging to different communities, religions and climatic zones. Thus, there were 8,105 males and 1;895 females. There were 3,550 Hindus, 3,365 Muslims, 1,690 Sikhs, 1,195 Christians and 200 Persians and Afghans. From the standpoint of climates, three main geographical regions, the north, east and south of India, were selected. There were thus 5,146 cases from the Punjab, Pelhi and the United Provinces, and 714 cases from Nepal and other hilly areas; 3,522 cases were from Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, and 618 cases from Madras. An attempt to establish the average systolic and diastolic pressure of Indians, taking all these factors into consideration, and also the effect of age and diet on blood pressure, is the main object of this paper. Our nndings are recorded in the tables.