At this point, the mercury level in the blood pressure machine, the sphygmomanometer ('sphyg'), gives the systolic pressure.

To perform the test, one first inflates the blood pressure cuff above systolic pressure to obliterate the radial pulse.

As adults age, systolic pressure tends to rise and diastolic tends to fall.

For most individuals, during aerobic exercise, the systolic pressure progressively increases while the diastolic remains about the same.

Elevated systolic pressure (hypertension) predicts myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure and a variety of other cardiovascular diseases.