Understanding Vital Signs

Study Notes

Vital signs are measurements of the body's most basic functions.
Monitoring vital signs can help detect health problems.
Three main vital signs monitored by doctors are body temperature, heart rate, and respiration rate.
Normal body temperature ranges from 36.5°C to 37.2°C.
A temperature of over 37.2°C indicates a fever, which means the body is fighting off an infection.
A normal heart rate for someone over 10 years old is between 60 to 100 beats per minute.
A higher heart rate indicates that the heart is working harder.
Athletes can have resting heart rates as low as 40 beats per minute.
Respiration rate measures the number of breaths a person takes per minute at rest.
Respiration rates increase with fever or illness.
Normal respiration rate for school-aged children is between 18-30 breaths per minute.
Blood pressure is not a vital sign but is often used to monitor overall health.
High blood pressure increases the risk of heart attack, heart failure, and stroke.
A healthy blood pressure is 120/80.

The immune system fights off infections and sicknesses.
The immune system protects against microbes.
Microbes are microorganisms that cause diseases and illnesses.
Microbes live in water, soil, and air.
The five main groups of microbes are bacteria, fungi, viruses, algae, and protozoa.
The immune system has two lines of defense: primary and secondary.
Primary defense includes skin, saliva, ear wax, tears, gastric juices, and cilia.
Skin prevents microbes from entering the body unless it's cut.
Tears, ear wax, mucus, and saliva contain enzymes that break down bacteria.
Cilia in the windpipe move mucus and trapped particles away from the lungs.
Gastric juices kill bacteria and parasites in the stomach.
Secondary defense involves white blood cells and antibodies.
White blood cells fight against microbes.
Phagocytes are white blood cells that consume invading microbes.
Lymphocytes are white blood cells that recognize and destroy previously encountered microbes.
White blood cells are found throughout the body, including in the blood, lymph nodes, and organs like the spleen and thymus.