What is Blood Pressure?1
The pressure of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries is blood pressure. Your arteries carry blood from your heart to the other parts of your body.
Blood pressure is measured using two numbers: the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats (systolic) and the pressure in your arteries when your heart is between beats (diastolic). The resulting measure is reported as “systolic/diastolic mmHg.”
Less than 120/80 mmHg is considered normal blood pressure.
What is Hypertension?
Hypertension is higher than normal blood pressure. Hypertension affects almost 65 million adults in the United States.2
The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guidelines diagnose patients with high blood pressure if their blood pressure is consistently 130/80 mmHg or higher.3
What are the Risks?
Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to complications such as heart attack or stroke, aneurysm, heart failure and kidney problems, among other illnesses.
How do I know if I have High Blood Pressure?
The best way to know if you have high blood pressure is to have your blood pressure checked by your doctor or healthcare provider. High blood pressure is known as “the silent killer,” because there are often no symptoms until damage has been done. That is why you should have your blood pressure checked regularly.
How is High Blood Pressure Controlled?2
There is no cure for high blood pressure. However, it can be controlled in a number of ways. Your doctor can tell you the best way to control your high blood pressure. Only your doctor can tell you if you need to take medicines for hypertension.
You should:
- Check your blood pressure often
- If prescribed, take your high blood pressure medicine exactly as your doctor instructs
- Exercise
- Eat foods low in salt
- Keep your weight at a healthy level
- Don’t smoke
- Limit alcohol intake
- Talk to your healthcare professional about your blood pressure
Additional Patient Resources
Additional support and information about hypertension and heart health can be found here.
American Heart Association: https://www.heart.org
Million Hearts: https://millionhearts.hhs.gov/
Centers for Disease Control: https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/index.htm
References:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “High Blood Pressure Symptoms and Causes.” https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/about.htm. Accessed March 16, 2021.
- United States Food & Drug Administration. “High Blood Pressure (Hypertension).” https://www.fda.gov/consumers/women/high-blood-pressure-hypertension. Accessed March 16, 2021
- Whelton PK, Carey RM, Aronow, WS, Casey DE, Collins KJ, Himmelfarb CD, et al. 2017 ACC/AHA/AAPA/ABC/ACPM/AGS/APhA/ASH/ASPC/NMA/PCNA guideline for the prevention, detection, evaluation, and management of high blood pressure in adults: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines external icon. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2018;71(19):e127–e248.
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/symptoms-causes/syc-20373410. Accessed March 16, 2021.