Confused by blood pressure numbers? Discover the difference between systolic and diastolic readings, risks, and how to manage healthy levels. Diastole represents ventricular filling, and systole represents ventricular contraction/ejection. Systole and diastole occur in both the right and left heart, though with very different pressures (see hemodynamics below). Explore the difference between systolic and diastolic blood pressure, their normal ranges, measurement methods, effects of high readings. The human cardiac cycle can be broken down into four main phases; the atrial systole, the ventricular systole, the atrial diastole, and the ventricular diastole.
