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High blood pressure or hypertension, often referred to as the ‘silent killer’, is typically asymptomatic – meaning no symptoms are shown. Some people with high blood pressure will experience symptoms, including chest pain, dizziness, headaches, shortness of breath, palpitations, and heart and nose bleeds. Most people however, will experience no symptoms as all – until the damage has been done which is often after several years of living with high blood pressure.
The first step to preventing and managing high blood pressure is to understandhigh blood pressure, its causes, effects, and long-term consequences. If you already have high blood pressure, it is important to control and continuously monitor your blood pressure.
Blood pressure is a measurement of the force of blood which pushes against the walls of the arteries. The arteries are the large blood vessels that carry blood from the heart muscle to all of the other organs and muscles inside the body. As the blood is transported around the body, it pushes against the inside of the artery walls. The force of this ‘push’ is what we measure as blood pressure. High blood pressure or hypertension is a medical condition in which the arteriesare persistently subjected to an elevated blood pressure. This increased pressure is caused by a rise in the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries.
The increased pressure can be caused by the arteries becoming thicker orhardening due to the build-up of plaque. Thicker artery walls mean that there is less space for the blood to flow through the arteries. This thickening (or narrowing of the artery) results in abnormal blood flow whereby the blood pushes harder against the walls of the arteries. This raises the blood pressure.
The higher the pressure, the greater the stress the arteries are under, and the more difficult it is for the heart to pump and deliver blood to the body. When blood pressure is high, this places stress on the body, which in turn can cause damage to the heart, kidneys, brain, and eyes.
How Is Blood Pressure Measured?
Blood pressure is expressed using two numbers - the systolic pressure (as the heart beats) over the diastolic pressure (as the heart relaxes). The normal systolic pressure is 120 mm Hg and the normal diastolic pressure is 80 mm Hg. Normal blood pressure is therefore written as 120 over 80, or 120/80. We will discuss how these numbers are determined in further depth in subsection 4 where we cover how blood pressure is tested.Your pulse pressure is the difference between the systolic pressure reading andthe diastolic pressure reading. Pulse pressure indicates the force that your heartmuscle generates each time it contracts. Therefore, provided your blood pressureis normal, that is 120/80 mm Hg, then your pulse pressure is 40 (120 - 80 = 40).
When systolic blood pressure is equal to or greater than 140 mm Hg and/or the diastolic blood pressure is equal to or greater than 90 mm Hg, the blood pressure is considered to be high (140/90). If any one value (systolic or diastolic) is in one of the elevated blood pressure categories, the patient is considered to be in that specific ‘stage’ of high blood pressure.
Your blood pressure goal should be 120/80, or even better, 115/75
The first step to preventing and managing high blood pressure is to understandhigh blood pressure, its causes, effects, and long-term consequences. If you already have high blood pressure, it is important to control and continuously monitor your blood pressure.
Blood pressure is a measurement of the force of blood which pushes against the walls of the arteries. The arteries are the large blood vessels that carry blood from the heart muscle to all of the other organs and muscles inside the body. As the blood is transported around the body, it pushes against the inside of the artery walls. The force of this ‘push’ is what we measure as blood pressure. High blood pressure or hypertension is a medical condition in which the arteriesare persistently subjected to an elevated blood pressure. This increased pressure is caused by a rise in the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries.
The increased pressure can be caused by the arteries becoming thicker orhardening due to the build-up of plaque. Thicker artery walls mean that there is less space for the blood to flow through the arteries. This thickening (or narrowing of the artery) results in abnormal blood flow whereby the blood pushes harder against the walls of the arteries. This raises the blood pressure.
The higher the pressure, the greater the stress the arteries are under, and the more difficult it is for the heart to pump and deliver blood to the body. When blood pressure is high, this places stress on the body, which in turn can cause damage to the heart, kidneys, brain, and eyes.
How Is Blood Pressure Measured?
Blood pressure is expressed using two numbers - the systolic pressure (as the heart beats) over the diastolic pressure (as the heart relaxes). The normal systolic pressure is 120 mm Hg and the normal diastolic pressure is 80 mm Hg. Normal blood pressure is therefore written as 120 over 80, or 120/80. We will discuss how these numbers are determined in further depth in subsection 4 where we cover how blood pressure is tested.Your pulse pressure is the difference between the systolic pressure reading andthe diastolic pressure reading. Pulse pressure indicates the force that your heartmuscle generates each time it contracts. Therefore, provided your blood pressureis normal, that is 120/80 mm Hg, then your pulse pressure is 40 (120 - 80 = 40).
When systolic blood pressure is equal to or greater than 140 mm Hg and/or the diastolic blood pressure is equal to or greater than 90 mm Hg, the blood pressure is considered to be high (140/90). If any one value (systolic or diastolic) is in one of the elevated blood pressure categories, the patient is considered to be in that specific ‘stage’ of high blood pressure.
Your blood pressure goal should be 120/80, or even better, 115/75