If you’ve ever wondered exactly what your blood pressure reading means, you’re not alone. Most people would prefer a simple explanation of your blood pressure reading, and even simpler answers as to how to improve your blood pressure reading, especially if it’s particularly high. For a simple explanation of your blood pressure reading and solid answers to how to improve it, read on.
Blood pressure is defined as the pressure exerted by the blood against the walls of blood vessels. Blood pressure depends on the strength of the heartbeat, thickness and volume of the blood, the elasticity of the artery walls, and the healthiness of the individual. Blood pressure falls into four categories including: Normal Blood Pressure, Pre-hypertension, Stage 1 Hypertension, and Stage 2 Hypertension.
Blood pressure numbers are further categorized into two types: systolic and diastolic. Systolic blood pressure (the top number) means the contraction of the heart during which blood is pumped into the arteries and diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) means the rhythmic expansion of the chambers of the heart at each heartbeat, during which they fill with blood.
Blood pressure readings can read as low as 80 (diastolic) and as high as 160 (systolic). If your systolic blood pressure falls between 90-120 your blood pressure is considered normal. If your diastolic blood pressure falls between 60-80, your blood pressure is also considered normal. So, this means a blood pressure reading of 120/80 is normal. However, it must be noted that current guidelines state that a healthy blood pressure is one that falls below 120/80.
Here is a complete breakdown of what the numbers mean: If your systolic number is below 120 and your diastolic number is below 80, you have Normal Blood Pressure; if your systolic number is 120-139 and your diastolic number is 80-89, you are categorized as Pre-hypertension; if your systolic number is 140-159 and your diastolic number is 90-99, you are categorized as Stage 1 Hypertension; if your systolic number is 160 or more and your diastolic number is 100 or more, you are categorized as Stage 2 Hypertension.
Individuals that fall into the Normal Blood Pressure and Prehypertension categories should maintain a healthy lifestyle. If you happen to fall into these categories, and your lifestyle isn’t so healthy, it is important to adopt a healthy lifestyle immediately in order to prevent or delay the onset of high blood pressure. For individuals that fall into the Stage 1 Hypertension category, it is crucial to adopt a healthy lifestyle immediately and monitor your blood pressure for six months. If blood pressure is still high after six months, medication may be necessary. Individuals that fall into the Stage 2 Hypertension category should also adopt a healthy lifestyle immediately and unfortunately, you may also have to take more than one medication.
High blood pressure can lead to stroke, kidney failure, heart disease, heart attack, and eye damage. So when your doctor recommends adopting a healthy lifestyle, this means that several significant lifestyle changes must take place. If you are a smoker, you must quit, and if you are overweight, you must lose weight. In many cases, weight-loss alone will lower high blood pressure. In addition, sodium/salt should be strictly limited. Adding salt to food should completely eliminated as many foods already contain the substance in amounts that already exceed the healthy daily limit. The current maximum daily allowance for sodium is 2,400 milligrams per day. It is important to keep in mind that nutrition labels list the amount of sodium contained per serving. So if a product, food or dish contains 4 servings, at 600 milligrams per serving, this one single product contains your limit for the day – 2,400 milligrams.
Adopting a healthy lifestyle also means regular physical exercise on most days of the week where you burn 300 calories or more either at the gym, biking, roller blading, jogging, power walking or some other form of aerobic exercise. This does not include normal, daily activities. In addition to eliminating or limiting sodium/salt from your diet, you should also eat a diet rich with “live foods” such as fruits and vegetables. Your diet should also limit alcohol consumption to a few drinks per week, and fat, processed foods, and fried foods should be strictly limited or eliminated from the diet. Relaxation techniques are also very helpful in lowering blood pressure as they help to balance stress levels. Yoga and meditation are just a few very effective relaxation techniques.
If your doctor recommends medication, there are several anti-hypertensive drugs available today. These include: diuretics, beta-blockers, alpha-blockers, ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, and a combination of an ACE inhibitor and a calcium channel blocker.
In the case of low blood pressure or hypotension, this means blood pressure is so low that the flow of blood to the organs is too low to deliver enough nutrients and oxygen to organs such as the heart, brain, and kidneys. This may cause the organs to malfunction or become permanently damaged.
Low blood pressure is typically the result of dehydration, bleeding (moderate or severe), severe inflammation of the organs inside the body, weakened heart muscle, pericarditis, pulmonary embolism, a slow heart rate, an abnormally fast heart rate, or a series of conditions and medications such as allergies, shock, and pills for depression, to name a few.
For more information about your blood pressure reading visit the MayoClinic.com.
