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High blood pressure increases your risk of
getting heart disease and for having a stroke. High blood
pressure is dangerous because it makes the heart work too hard.
It also makes the walls of the arteries hard. High blood
pressure is especially dangerous because it often has no warning signs
or symptoms.
What is High Blood Pressure?
Blood pressure is the force of blood
against the walls of arteries. Blood pressure is recorded as two
numbers—the systolic pressure (as the heart beats) over the
diastolic pressure (as the heart relaxes between beats). The
measurement is written one above or before the other, with the
systolic number on top and the diastolic number on the bottom. For
example, a blood pressure measurement of 120/80 is expressed verbally
as "120 over 80."
High blood pressure is any
number above 120 systolic or 80 diastolic.
| |
Systolic |
Diastolic |
| Normal |
less than 120 AND |
less than 80 |
| Borderline High
Blood Pressure |
120-139 OR |
80-89 |
| High Blood
Pressure Stage 1 |
140-159 OR |
90-99 |
| High Blood
Pressure Stage 2 |
greater than 160
OR |
greater than 100 |
Who is at risk for
High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is common. More
than 1 in 4 Americans have high blood pressure. It is very common in
African Americans, who may get it earlier in life and more often than
whites. Many Americans tend to develop high blood pressure as they get
older, but this is not a part of healthy aging. Middle-aged Americans
face a 90% chance of developing high blood pressure during their
lives. Others at risk for developing high blood pressure are the
overweight, those with a family history of high blood pressure, and
those with pre-hypertension (borderline high blood pressure)
120–139/80–89).
Click here to find out the
symptoms of high blood
pressure.
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