< Back to Menu

Blood Pressure Determination

Prevent high blood pressure by having it checked every year. The higher your blood pressure, the more likely you will have a heart attack or stroke.

It is clear there is a direct relationship between the height of a person's blood pressure and the likelihood of a heart attack or a stroke.

There are two components to blood pressure--the higher systolic reading and the lower diastolic reading. The systolic pressure, the higher value, is the result of the thrust of the blood against the blood vessels as the heart muscle contracts and forces the blood out of the heart into the adjacent vessels. The systolic pressure should not be greater than 140 for people at any age. As you grow older, the reading for the systolic part of the blood pressure may become somewhat higher). When the heart relaxes between beats, the blood vessels recoil from the initial thrust of blood from the heart and resulting in the diastolic pressure, which should be less than 90 at any age. (Blood pressure is measured by a blood pressure cuff in millimeters of mercury.

If the pressure is elevated, a second reading should be made the same day after a period of relaxation. If it remains elevated, the physician should decide whether treatment is necessary. Often, if the blood pressure is only moderately elevated, all that is needed is weight loss or a combination of weight loss and exercise.

The higher the blood pressure, the greater the risk of heart disease and stroke. It is much better to have a systolic blood pressure of 110 to 120 than to have one of 135. Similarly, a diastolic reading of 70 to 75 is healthier than a diastolic reading of 85 to 89, even though both are normal.

For those in the higher part of the normal range who wish to lower either the systolic or the diastolic levels, the best approach is weight loss. Exercise may help to lose weight or lower blood pressure. If weight loss and exercise do not help, dietary change to a diet heavy in fruits, vegetables, low fat dairy foods, poultry, fish, and nuts (the DASH diet) is recommended. If that does not work, add salt restriction (see Archives under Blood Pressure for articles on new blood pressure recommendations and dietary control
of blood pressure).

A presumptive ideal level for diastolic blood pressure is less than 70, with a systolic of 110 or less (others use 115 millimeters systolic, 75 millimeters diastolic).

Remember that an increase in blood pressure is often caused by stress or anxiety (called labile blood pressure elevation). This can be handled by reducing stress or just relaxing. Anyone with high blood pressure should be under the care of a physician in order to receive adequate supervision or treatment.

Healthful Life recommends checking your blood pressure yearly after the age of 20. For those with no history of high blood pressure and no symptoms (such as a pounding headache), a yearly blood pressure determination should be adequate. If there is a sudden increase in blood pressure between regularly scheduled determinations, usually there will be symptoms. If you wish to check your pressure more regularly, there are good home blood pressure measuring kits.