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What are vital signs?

vital signs are medical signs that helps to know the condition of important body functions. it helps health practitioners to assess the general health of their client or patient and gives them the hint on possible disease conditions they may have. it also serves as tool in which they used to know maybe their patient health is improving or deteriorating.

The four primary vitals signs

1 . body temperature
2 . pulse
3 . respiration
4 . blood pressure

1 . Temperature ÷ this is the degree of coldness or hotness of the body which can be measure using a thermometer. temperature can either be normal, high or low. temperature can be measure in various sites of the body which includes axilla, rectum, ear, skin, mouth e.t.c.

Range	Value
Normal temperature	36-37.5°c
high temperature	above 37.8°c
Low temperature	below 35°c

Note that temperature varies with temperature of the day and latitude.

2 . pulse ÷ this can also be called heart rate, it is the way the heart beat when pumping blood through the arteries. for adults the normal range is 60-80bpm. it can be taken at the radial, dorsalis, carotid and brachial artery.

3 . Respiratory rate ÷ this is an indicators of acidotic states. it is the process of breathing i.e breathing in and out. for adult the normal rate is 16-20cpm.

4 . Blood pressure ÷ this is best taken in the left arm, it is recorded in two reading systolic reading and diastolic reading. blood pressure is the force the blood is using to push on the walls of arteries. normal range for adult is 120/80mmHg. The differences between systolic and diastolic is called pulse pressure.

In conclusion

Constantly checking our vital signs can helps us detect some disease at their primary stage and it also serves as a guide to health practitioners to know how their patient is responding to treatment.

Cc: @alejos7ven