When assessing vitals, which reading indicates when the heart relaxes?

The diastolic reading indicates when the heart relaxes. During the cardiac cycle, the heart goes through two main phases: systole and diastole. Systole is the phase when the heart contracts to pump blood out into the arteries, which is represented by the systolic measurement. In contrast, diastole is the phase when the heart muscle relaxes, allowing the chambers of the heart to fill with blood. The diastolic blood pressure measurement reflects the pressure in the arteries when the heart is at rest between beats. This value is crucial for assessing cardiovascular health, as it provides insights into the overall pressure in the arteries when the heart is not actively pumping.

Other options do not directly relate to the heart's relaxation phase: the systolic reading measures the heart's pressure during contraction, mean arterial pressure calculates the average pressure in a person's arteries during one cardiac cycle, and hypertensive refers to a condition of consistently elevated blood pressure rather than a specific measurement related to heart activity.