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The High and Low of Checking Blood Pressure

What do the numbers mean? They indicate the risk of health problems

By National Institutes of Health

Having your blood pressure checked during a visit to the doctor is as routine as signing in at the front desk. You get a high and a low number. But what do those numbers mean?

Blood pressure numbers include systolic (sis-TOL-ik) and diastolic (di-a-STOL-ik) pressures.

Systolic blood pressure is the pressure when the heart beats while pumping blood. Diastolic blood pressure is the pressure when the heart is at rest between beats.

You will most often see blood pressure numbers written with the systolic number above or before the diastolic, such as 120/80 mmHg. (The mmHg is millimeters of mercury—the units used to measure blood pressure.)

The table below shows normal numbers for adults. It also shows which numbers put you at greater risk for health problems. Blood pressure tends to go up and down, even in people who have normal blood pressure. If your numbers stay above normal most of the time, you're at risk.

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The ranges in the table apply to most adults (aged 18 and older) who don't have short-term serious illnesses. All levels above 120/80 mmHg raise your risk, and the risk grows as blood pressure levels rise.

"Prehypertension" means you're likely to end up with HBP, unless you take steps to prevent it. —National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Based on content from the NIH publication, “What Is High Blood Pressure.”
 

National Institutes of Health
By National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation's medical research agency — making important discoveries that improve health and save lives. NIH is the largest single source of financing for medical research in the world, seeking new ways to cure disease, alleviate suffering and prevent illness. By providing the evidence base for health decisions by individuals and their clinicians, NIH is empowering Americans to embrace healthy living through informed decision-making. NIH is made up of 27 institutes and centers, each with a specific research agenda, focusing on stages of life, like aging or child health, or particular diseases or body systems.

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