High Blood Pressure Categories
You can divide high blood pressure into five categories, according to guidelines from the American College of Cardiology:
- Normal: Normal blood pressure in adults is any blood pressure below 120/80.
- Elevated: In adults, elevated blood pressure is a systolic reading of 120-129 and a diastolic reading below 80.
- Hypertension stage I: This stage includes blood pressures ranges of 130-139 or 80-89 .
- Hypertension stage II: This stage includes blood pressures ranges above 140 or above 90 .
- Hypertensive crisis: Severely elevated blood pressure is defined as greater than 180 and/or 120 and associated with new or worsening organ damage.
What Is Normal Blood Pressure And When Is Blood Pressure Considered To Be High
Blood pressure is always measured on a number of different days and when you are at rest. If several of these measurements are too high, you are said to have high blood pressure, even if only one of the two either the systolic or the diastolic one is high. The medical term for high blood pressure is hypertension. In adults, blood pressure is considered to be normal under a systolic value of 140 mmHg and under a diastolic value of 90 mmHg.
When taking your blood pressure for the first time, it makes sense to measure the blood pressure in both arms, because it’s sometimes high on only one side. The values that are higher are always the ones used for assessing blood pressure. After that it is enough to measure the blood pressure only in the arm that produced the higher reading. A person is considered to have high blood pressure if the systolic value is over 140 mmHg, the diastolic value is over 90 mmHg, or if both are higher than these readings.
Table: Normal and high blood pressure readings
| systolic over 140 mmHg and/or diastolic over 90 mmHg |
Drink Alcohol In Moderation
Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol will increase your blood pressure and raise the cholesterol levels in your blood.
Sticking to the recommended amounts of alcohol consumption is the best way to reduce your risk of developing high blood pressure.
The recommended daily limits of alcohol consumption are:
- 3 to 4 units of alcohol for men
- 2 to 3 units of alcohol for women.
A unit of alcohol is equal to about half a pint of normal-strength lager, a small glass of wine or a pub measure or spirits.
More about drinking alcohol reponsibly
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What Your Blood Pressure Should Be According To Your Age
High blood pressure may be a common condition, but it should never be taken lightly. Even though nearly half of American adults age 18 and older suffer from prehypertension or hypertension, high blood pressure isnt diagnosed the same way for everyone .
In fact, blood pressure guidelines vary according to the age of the patient, meaning that the 120/80 rule doesnt apply to everyone.
Why Do I Need A Blood Pressure Chart
Older persons, those with a hereditary predisposition, heart problems, or systemic diseases are all especially prone to high blood pressure. A blood pressure chart helps a person to monitor their individual values, to identify abnormalities early on, and to treat unhealthy blood pressure values at an early stage.
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Habits For Promoting Healthy Blood Pressure
Blood pressure is greatly influenced by lifestyle, so most healthy people can properly manage blood pressure without medical intervention.
Keeping body weight within a normal range, eating a heart-healthy diet, decreasing mental stress and having a regular aerobic exercise routine can have a profound effect on blood pressure, Kazemi said.
How Blood Pressure Is Measured
A doctor or nurse will measure your blood pressure with a small gauge attached to an inflatable cuff. It’s simple and painless.
The person taking your blood pressure wraps the cuff around your upper arm. Some cuffs go around the forearm or wrist, but often they aren’t as accurate.
Your doctor or nurse will use a stethoscope to listen to the blood moving through your artery.
Theyâll inflate the cuff to a pressure higher than your systolic blood pressure, and it will tighten around your arm. Then theyâll release it. As the cuff deflates, the first sound they hear through the stethoscope is the systolic blood pressure. It sounds like a whooshing noise. The point where this noise goes away marks the diastolic blood pressure.
In a blood pressure reading, the systolic number always comes first, and then the diastolic number. For example, your numbers may be “120 over 80” or written as 120/80.
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Normal Vs Abnormal Blood Pressure
Both high blood pressure and low pressure can indicate a health issue, although hypertension typically is more of a concern than hypotension. The American Heart Association guidelines define five categories of blood pressure values.
Systolic pressure generally is given more consideration for people 50 and older because it tends to rise steadily with age as arteries become less pliable and plaque begins to build up, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Low Blood Pressure Chart
Considering low blood pressure chart in context of women, for men, during pregnancy and by age
Low blood pressure is defined as blood pressure that is below the normal expected for a person in a given environment. You may look at the blood pressure definition for a broader definition of blood pressure. The following low blood pressure chart is applicable to adult men and women. This is because both adult male and females are expected to have a similar normal blood pressure on average of 120/80mmHg.
This chart in discussion here may not be efficiently applicable on children because infants and children specifically have significantly lower blood pressure compared to adult men and women.
High blood pressure which is also known as hypertension is often presented with the aid of a high blood pressure chart showing the various stages of hypertension congruent with particular blood pressure numbers. Several challenges present when attempting to do the same for low blood pressure in the form of a low blood pressure chart.
Chief among these challenges is the widely agreed and understood relativity of a low blood pressure condition. The chart above summarizes known data of low blood pressure readings in some individuals and accompanying symptoms of low blood pressure.
Blood Pressure Readings Explained
What do the numbers mean?
Everyone would like to have healthy blood pressure. But what exactly does that mean?
When your doctor takes your blood pressure, its expressed as a measurement with two numbers, with one number on top and one on the bottom , like a fraction. For example, 120/80 mm Hg.
The top number refers to the amount of pressure in your arteries during the contraction of your heart muscle. This is called systolic pressure.
The bottom number refers to your blood pressure when your heart muscle is between beats. This is called diastolic pressure.
Both numbers are important in determining the state of your heart health.
Numbers greater than the ideal range indicate that your heart is working too hard to pump blood to the rest of your body.
High Blood Pressure In Adults
Healthy blood pressure in adults is a reading below 120 systolic and 80 diastolic. Blood pressure between 120 to 129 systolic and under 80 diastolic is considered elevated. Elevated blood pressure means you have a greater risk of developing high blood pressure later on. Your doctor may suggest eating less salt, eating a heart healthy diet, or living a more active lifestyle.
How To Measure Blood Pressure
Usually a nurse checks your blood pressure to make sure its not too low or too high before your doctors appointment. But you can also check your readings manually at home. You can use an inflatable cuff similar to those used at your doctors office. Or you can use a digital blood pressure monitor with automatic cuff inflation.
Read the directions carefully when measuring your blood pressure. Certain factors can cause a temporary rise in blood pressure. These factors include:
When To Get Blood Pressure Readings
A normal person who has never has high blood pressure does not require regular readings beyond their yearly check-ups, Kazemi said. Patients with a history of hypertension should be checked more frequently. Talk to your doctor about how often you should have your blood pressure checked, and follow that schedule closely.
What’s The Impact Of Having High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is a major risk factor for developing cardiovascular diseases such as:
- coronary heart disease;- where the main arteries that supply your heart become clogged up with plaques
- strokes;- a serious condition where the blood supply to your brain is interrupted
- heart attacks;- a serious condition where the blood supply to part of your heart is blocked
Diabetes and kidney disease are also linked to high blood pressure complications.
Variations In Blood Pressure
Your blood pressure changes to meet your bodys needs. If a reading is high, your doctor may measure your blood pressure again on several separate occasions to confirm the level.;
Your doctor may also recommend that you measure your blood pressure at home or have a 24-hour recording with a monitoring device.;
Regulation Of Blood Pressure
The endogenous, homeostatic regulation of arterial pressure is not completely understood, but the following mechanisms of regulating arterial pressure have been well-characterized:
These different mechanisms are not necessarily independent of each other, as indicated by the link between the RAS and aldosterone release. When blood pressure falls many physiological cascades commence in order to return the blood pressure to a more appropriate level.
What Is A Healthy Blood Pressure
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When the heart is squeezing blood into the arteries, the pressure is high. When the heart is relaxed, the pressure is lower.
Your blood pressure is a measurement taken of the highest reading and the lowest reading . It is given as 2 figures highest over lowest or systolic over diastolic. Blood pressure is measured in mmHg, which refers to millimetres of mercury.
Your blood pressure varies from day to day, even moment to moment. Most doctors would say that a healthy blood pressure is higher than 90/60 mmHg but lower than about 140/90.
What Is A Blood Pressure Chart
The blood pressure chart is a way to document the readings a person has taken themselves. Because blood pressure fluctuates over the course of the day, the blood pressure chart is used to record both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, along with the date and time of the measurement. The pulse should also be recorded to provide additional information.
It allows self-monitoring of blood pressure and can help an attending doctor to better assess the values in the long term, improving the precision of the diagnosis.
Understanding Blood Pressure What Is It
Your blood pressure reading is a measurement of the pressure your blood applies across your artery walls. Your blood pressure changes a little throughout the day; when you relax, your blood pressure lowers, and when you move around or feel stress, your blood pressure increases. But high blood pressure over a long term is associated with serious health risks, including heart, brain, and eye damage. Likewise, chronic low blood pressure sometimes comes with health risks. Fortunately, there are helpful ways to manage both high and low blood pressure.
Diagnosing High Blood Pressure
The only way to find out whether you have high blood pressure is to have your blood pressure checked regularly. Ask your GP when you are next due for yours to be checked.
Before having your blood pressure taken, you should rest for at least five minutes and empty your bladder. To get an accurate blood pressure reading, you should be sitting down and not talking when the reading is taken.
Having one high blood pressure reading does not necessarily mean that you have high blood pressure. Your blood pressure can change throughout the day. Feeling anxious or stressed when you visit your GP can raise your blood pressure .
Therefore, your GP will need to take several readings over a set period of time, usually every month, to see whether your blood pressure level is consistently high.
Blood and urine tests may also be carried out in order to check for conditions that are known to cause an increase in blood pressure, such as kidney infections.
You may also be given a blood pressure device to take home so that you can record your blood pressure level throughout the day. This also helps to identify white coat syndrome and therefore helps to identify the best treatment options for you.
The American Academy Of Cardiology Defines High Blood Pressure Slightly Differently
What is normal blood pressure standing up. In patients with chronotropic incompetence heart rate may not increase upon standing and they may experience orthostatic hypotension OH. If either one of those numbers is higher you have high blood pressure. This may be particularly noticeable when you move from a sitting or lying position to a standing position.
On standing the systolic may rise or fall about 10 mm and the diastolic may rise 5-10 mm. Normal blood pressure is usually considered 12080 mm Hg or less. On standing the systolic may rise or fall about 10 mm and the diastolic may rise 5-10 mm.
However to avoid the risk of developing cardiovascular disease the resting BP shouldnt be higher than 120 80 mm Hg. The exception is when either the patient complains of feeling unsteady when standing up compared with lying down or when the physician was suspicious of orthostatic hypotension for some other reason eg anemia blood loss etc. Orthostatic hypotension also called postural hypotension is a sudden fall in blood pressure that occurs when you stand up quickly.
After exercise it will naturally return to its normal level. The guidelines now state that blood normal blood pressure is 12080 mmHg. This is because there is no conclusive evidence that the benefits outweigh the risks of treating with medicines to blood pressure lower than 14090 mm Hg.
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When To Call Your Doctor
A hypertensive crisisdefined as blood pressure above 180/120 mm Hgrequires immediate medical attention. Call 911 if you are also experiencing symptoms such as chest pain, back pain, shortness of breath, difficulty speaking, a change in vision, weakness, or numbness.
What Is A Normal Blood Pressure Response During Exercise Testing
What is normal blood pressure during labor. Blood pressure can be categorized into five different types namely. The womans heart rate and blood pressure. University of Illinois at Chicago.
When blood pressure readings consistently range from 120 to 129 systolic and less than 80 mm Hg diastolic it is known as elevated blood pressure. February 13 2018 Source. The contractions of the uterus help close these vessels until the vessels can heal.
In addition your babys health is carefully monitored during labor. It is normal for systolic blood pressure to range between 160 and 220 during exercise. The diastolic blood pressure or the bottom number typically does not change during exercise.
Blood is lost because some blood vessels are opened when the placenta detaches from the uterus. High blood pressure can also cause problems during and after delivery. First study in 20 years shows updates needed Date.
In the United States high blood pressure happens in 1 in every 12 to 17 pregnancies among women ages 20 to 44. Click on the article title to read more. Include a cool down period post exercise to avoid sharp drops in blood.
6-31 What is a normal blood pressure. During anesthesia your blood pressure will be taken by an automated cuff every two to five minutes while you sleep to ensure that any changes are detected as quickly as possible. High blood pressure is.
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Variable Or Fluctuating Blood Pressure
Some fluctuation or variation in blood pressure is normal. Variations in pressure that are significantly greater than the norm are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease brain small vessel disease, and dementia independent of the average blood pressure level. Recent evidence from clinical trials has also linked variation in blood pressure to stroke, heart failure, and cardiac changes that may give rise to heart failure. These data have prompted discussion of whether excessive variation in blood pressure should be treated, even among normotensive older adults. Older individuals and those who had received blood pressure medications are more likely to exhibit larger fluctuations in pressure, and there is some evidence that different antihypertensive agents have different effects on blood pressure variability; whether these differences translate to benefits in outcome is uncertain.