High Blood Pressure

Every encounter you have with a health care professional likely involves getting your blood pressure checked. Why is blood pressure measurement such an important indicator of health? What does it mean if your blood pressure is high? High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is the force applied against the wall of the arteries as the heart pumps. High blood pressure is a silent disease, one that may not have any symptoms for months or even years.

Blood pressure measurements are checked with a syphgmomanometer and a stethoscope. An inflatable cuff is placed around the arm and a stethoscope placed over the arteries in the crook of the elbow. As the cuff is deflated, a sound is heard as the blood courses through the artery. The first sound heard is measured and that is the systolic blood pressure. Normal systolic blood pressure is less than 120 (mm Hg). When the sound stops, the measurement is the diastolic blood pressure. Normal diastolic blood pressure is less than 80 (mm Hg).

Complications of high blood pressure are no joke. What happens is that the walls of the arteries lose their elasticity over time and the heart has to work harder to push the blood through them. Every organ and body system is therefore affected by high blood pressure. That is why treatment is so important. People sometimes want to stop taking their medications when they feel better. That is a dangerous practice with high blood pressure and can lead to life threatening problems such as heart attack or stroke.

Prevention of high blood pressure is a key to wellness. The High Blood Pressure Learning Center offers multimedia guides to preventing high blood pressure and its complications with very simple lifestyle adjustments. You may want to explore complementary and alternative therapies. The Learning Center provides talking points for discussions with your health care provider.