Blood Pressure Basics

What is blood pressure?

Blood pressure is the pressure of blood in your arteries. The higher your blood pressure the greater your risk of developing narrowed arteries which can lead to heart problems and strokes. The good news is that if your blood pressure is high, it can be lowered by making changes to your lifestyle, for example changing your diet, exercising and losing weight, and when needed, with tablets. This will reduce your risk of developing heart and brain problems that might otherwise occur if your blood pressure is not treated. However, in many people, blood pressure is not checked or measured, and in some people who have high blood pressure it may not be treated adequately.

Your heart pumps blood around your body through a network of tubing called arteries. Every time your heart pumps it forces blood through these arteries and into smaller blood vessels called capillaries. The force that your heart produces in your arteries when it pumps is called your blood pressure. When the heart contracts and forces blood through the arteries your blood pressure goes up, when the heart relaxes it goes down.

Why is blood pressure important?

High blood pressure can also be called hypertension; both words mean the same thing. If you have a blood pressure measurement that is consistently more than 140/90mmHg then you have high blood pressure.

What do the numbers mean?

When you have your blood pressure measured, it is written down as two numbers, one over the other like a fraction.

For example:

140/90mmHg

The top number, which is called the systolic pressure, shows the pressure in your arteries when your heart is forcing blood through them. The bottom number, called the diastolic pressure, shows the pressure in your arteries when your heart relaxes. The top number can be anywhere from 90 to 200 and the bottom number can be anywhere from 60 to 140. Blood pressure is measured in millimetres of mercury, which is written down as: mmHg

What should my blood pressure be?

The higher your blood pressure, what ever it is, the higher your risk of heart disease or stroke.

However, a blood pressure of greater than 140/90mmHg is said to be high. If your blood pressure is consistently raised at these levels and above, it will need to be treated, either by making changes to your lifestyle or by taking medication.

This level of 140/90mmHg is the level for high blood pressure for almost everyone, whether you are male or female, young or old. The exception is if you have diabetes. If you have diabetes your blood pressure should be lower than 140/80mmHg.

When you have your blood pressure measured, always ask what it is and keep a record if you can. By doing this you can see whether your blood pressure is stable or is increasing.

source: https://www.bpassoc.org.uk/

Excellent (and timely) post. My new girlfriend is a doctor, and she took my BP last night...about 150/100. Now of course, she doesn't know why it's so high. She wasn't too concerned, and she told me not to be. She said it's probably some fat-burmers I'm on or something.

any type of ECA/Xeandrine/Ephedra will throw that BP out of whack..

Awesome post....i checked my BP last night and it was 139/92mmhg...i'm going to watch it for a while and if it continues to go up i'll do something about it but i don't think i have anything to worrie about....

does anyone know what pulse rate should be... mine was at 85

Good Post. I have been getting abnormally high readout on the cardio machines for heartbeat. I am talking about 175-180 at a slow pace. I am using Hydroxycut (not my personal choice it was given to me by someone who couldn't take the jitters) and adding some yohimbe w/ it. But I had my BP taken on Monday and it was 120/70 so I am not worried. Those heart rate monitors on the bikes etc are probably all out of Whack anyway but it did concern me because I am trying to keep the heart rate lower for fat burning.

Well, I had an anxiety attack last week and during the anxiety, my BP was 156/88. Once I calmed down, it dropped back to 116/72.

So I did some research about BP and went and bought me a machine so I can test it from home. My pulse rate is usually around 50 when i'm calm. The BP machine I bought also measures pulse and can also detect an irregular heartbeat, its pretty cool, its all digital.

good post ladiesman :) I have high blood presser nearly everytime I go to the doctor, that post gave me good insight about blood pressure

120/80...and going down...i hope to get to 120/70

than i can get back on sauce