If you’ve ever been to the doctor’s office, chances are you’re familiar with the routine: you roll up your sleeve, then a care provider wraps a thick cuff snugly around your upper arm to take your blood pressure. Soon it starts to inflate—and just as things start to get uncomfortable—everything stops, and the cuff begins to loosen.
Next, the provider tells you two numbers. You nod. But do you know exactly what your numbers mean? And if they’re too high, do you know what you can do to lower them?
Understanding Your Numbers
Blood pressure is a measure of the force the blood places on the walls of the arteries as it is pumped from the heart to other parts of the body. It’s determined by two different numbers that are revealed when you have a blood pressure test. You will usually be told that your blood pressure is one number “over” another number, such as “120 over 80.”
The top number is called systolic pressure. It is the amount of pressure the blood is putting on the walls of the arteries during the heartbeat—in other words, when your heart pumps blood to parts of your body. The bottom number, or diastolic pressure, the amount of pressure the blood is putting on the wall of the arteries between heartbeats.
- Normal blood pressure is less than 120 for systolic and less than 80 for diastolic—or, 120 over 80.
- At risk or prehypertension levels are when your systolic level is between 120 and 129 and the diastolic is under 80.
- High blood pressure, also called hypertension, happens when your systolic level is over 139 and your diastolic number is over 80. If you have high blood pressure, you need to lower it to avoid health problems.
About High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure affects nearly half of all adults in the U.S., or about 100 million people. In other words, you have a decent chance of developing high blood pressure at some point—or may even have it right now, but don’t know it.
In fact, high blood pressure is sometimes referred to as “the silent killer” because it can cause health problems without any visible symptoms. High blood pressure may affect brain function, and could also damage your heart, brain, kidneys and eyes. Left on its own, high blood pressure can also dramatically increase your risk of stroke and heart disease.
So, what—if anything—can you do to maintain a normal blood pressure, or lower it if it is already too high?
While there are some factors that make you more likely to have high blood pressure that are things you can’t do much about—like your age, family history of the disease or genetics—there are plenty of things you can do to support good help and as a result, help keep your blood pressure low.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), here are some steps you can take to help keep your blood pressure within a healthy range.
- Get at least 150 minutes (30 minutes a day, 5 days a week) of moderate-intensity physical activity each week
- Quit smoking
- Limit alcohol consumption
- Eat a healthy diet low in sodium and saturated fat
- Achieve and maintain a healthy weight
- Get enough sleep
While healthy lifestyle habits can go a long way, some people with high blood pressure may need to take a medication. If you have any concerns or think you may need help controlling your high blood pressure, we recommend that you contact us as soon as possible.