Blood Pressure Systolic blood pressure is the maximum pressure produced by each heartbeat....

Blood Pressure Systolic blood pressure is the maximum pressure produced by each heartbeat. Both low blood

pressure and high blood pressure are cause for medical concern. Therefore, health care professionals are interested in a patient’s “pressure difference from normal,” or Pd . If 120 is considered a normal systolic pressure, Pd = | P − 120 | , where P is the patient’s recorded systolic pressure. For example, a patient with a systolic pressure P of 113 would have a pressure difference from normal of

Pd = | P − 120 | = | 113 − 120 | = | −7 | = 7.

(a) Calculate the Pd value for a woman whose actual systolic pressure is 116 and whose normal value should be 125.

(b) If a patient’s Pd value is 17 and the normal pressure for his sex and age should be 120, what are the two possible values for his systolic blood pressure?