148 



The Philippine Journal of Science 



1916 



Table VII. — Blood pressures and pulse rates of opiate addicts arranged 

 according to lengths of time opium or morphine has been taken. 



Drug habit. 



Cases. 



Average 

 age. 



Systolic 

 pressure. 



Diastolic 

 pressure. 



Pulse 

 pressure. 



Pulse 

 rate. 



Less than 1 year 



6 

 18 

 11 

 14 



4 

 12 



Years. 

 41.3 

 40.5 

 40.0 

 0.6 

 44.0 

 39.9 



mm. Hg. 

 106.9 

 104.7 

 106.3 

 113.4 

 97.8 

 110.3 



mm. Hg. 



74.5 

 75.0 

 80.4 

 78.2 

 71.9 

 77.2 



mm. Hg. 

 32.4 

 29.7 

 25.9 

 35.2 

 25.9 

 33.1 



74.3 

 82.1 

 89.1 

 73.6 

 71.0 

 »78.8 



1 to 5 years _ 



5 to 10 years _ 



10 to 20 years 



Over 20 years . _. . 



(?) 



Total and average 



65 



40.6 



107.6 



76.8 



30.8 



b79.6 



Range (cuff 10.5) 





66-21 



142-80 



100-59 



59-12 



130-59 







" Five cases out of the 12. 



* Fifty-eight cases out of the 65. 



SUMMARY 



By using the graphic method with the Erlanger sphygmomano- 

 meter and a 12.5-centimeter cuff, our 717 cases with an average 

 age of 28.5 years showed : 



1. An average systolic pressure of 115.5 millimeters of mer- 

 cury in males and 116 millimeters in females, an average dias- 

 tolic pressure of 79.1 millimeters in males and 83.4 millimeters 

 in females, and hence an average pulse pressure of 36.4 milli- 

 meters in males and 32.6 millimeters in females. 



2. That there is a general rise of systolic, diastolic, and pulse 

 pressures with age. 



3. That for a given age the systolic pressure is more variable 

 than the diastolic. 



4. That the pulse pressure does not differ very much between 

 the different ages ; that cases with constant pulse pressure below 

 20 and above 50 millimeters are probably abnormal. 



5. That hypertension is not a necessary accompaniment of old 

 age. 



6. That the pulse rate of Filipinos averaged a few beats above 

 the usual standard of 72 per minute. 



7. That in thirty-three homicides the systolic and diastolic 

 pressures were, respectively, 7.9 and 7.8 millimeters higher than 

 normal, while the pulse pressure remained the same. 



8. That in sixty-five opium and morphine habitues all the 

 blood-pressure averages are lower than normal. 



In conclusion we wish to express our obligation to Doctors 

 Maiialak and Smith, of Bilibid Prison, and to Miss Dobbs, of 

 the Philippine Training School for Nurses, for their valuable 

 assistance in securing subjects for us. 



