Maintaining Normal Blood Pressure

Maintaining Normal Blood Pressure:

Maintaining a normal blood pressure is one of the key in preventing high blood pressure. How to maintain it? Through regular blood pressure check in your family physician or even in your home if you have the BP apparatus. Individuals above 55 years old are prone to develop high blood pressure. Man over 45 years of age, and 55 for women.

High blood pressure is quite tricky to some individuals. Some has high blood pressure without getting any symptoms at all—so it’s really important to determine the baseline of your blood pressure and have it checked on a regular basis so you can monitor the changes of it if there’s any. Hypertension can lead to heart attack and stroke if not treated earlier.

What is Blood Pressure?

Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure exerted by circulating blood upon the walls of blood vessels, and is one of the principal vital signs. When used without further specification, “blood pressure” usually refers to the arterial pressure of the systemic circulation. (Wikipedia) The force is a bit higher when your heart beats more into your blood vessels and this is called systolic pressure. Diastolic pressure is when the pressure drops between beats.

Pressure builds up when your arteries becomes either narrow or stiff. It’s like pinching the tip of a filled tube—it makes the heart work harder and pressure is already present. Your heart is compose of a muscle with about a size of your fist but works and beats billion times in an average lifetime. That is why you don’t want to add more stress in your heart by having an abnormal blood pressure.  So keeping it in a normal state is very vital.

How to take your Blood Pressure Reading?

Upon arrival in the medical facility, the healthcare provider will ask you to take few minutes to rest before she measures your blood pressure for accurate result. She then will place a cuff and wrap it around your upper arm and start inflating it until the blood stops flowing. Using a stethoscope, for manual BP apparatus, the provider determines the systolic pressure upon hearing the first beat after deflating the cuff, and determines the diastolic pressure when she hears no beat at all. Systolic pressure has to be recorded first.

Normal blood pressure:  A systolic pressure less than 120 and less than 80 diastolic pressure.

Prehypertension: A systolic pressure between 120 and 139 and between 80 and 89 diastolic pressure.

Hypertension (borderline): A systolic over 139 and diastolic over 89.

It’s important to know that one abnormal blood pressure reading does not mean hypertension. Your healthcare provider will check your blood pressure reading several times on different days before deciding if you have high blood pressure.

 

DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this site is for educational purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for personal care by a licensed physician. Please see your physician for diagnosis and treatment of any concerning symptoms or medical condition.