What is blood pressure? Well, as the heart
beats, it pumps blood through blood vessels to and from all areas of the body. As blood
is traveling through the arteries, which are blood vessels where oxygen-rich blood travels
to organs and tissues, it pushes on the sides of artery walls. Blood pressure is a reading of the
force of how hard blood is pushing on the sides of these artery walls. High blood pressure, also
called hypertension, is when this force is too high. Healthcare professionals will measure
your blood pressure while you're sitting at rest with a device, usually a blood pressure cuff,
which will produce two numbers, the first number is called systolic pressure, and it gauges
blood pressure when the heart beats, while it's pumping blood, the second number is called
diastolic pressure, and it gauges blood pressure in between heartbeats, when the heart is at rest
So, an example reading might be 117 over 79, with the first number being systolic pressure and
the second number being diastolic pressure. Normal blood pressure is defined as lower than
124 systolic and lower than 84 diastolic.
Your blood pressure will change throughout the day,
being higher when you're active or under stress, and lower when you're resting, the chart on the
screen lists the different stages of high blood pressure, along with the systolic and diastolic
readings for them. High blood pressure can cause severe damage to the body over time, it can cause
artery damage and narrowing, by damaging the cells of the interior artery walls, which can lead to
atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, it can damage the heart, making it work harder to
pump blood. High blood pressure can also lead to damage to the brain, kidneys and even the eyes,
as well as bone loss and trouble sleeping. Some of the risk factors of having high blood pressure
include age, heredity, being overweight, smoking, having high cholesterol levels, consistently being
under stress, physical inactivity, and poor diet, including overconsumption of foods with a high
salt or sodium content.
You can do some things to help control blood pressure, improve your diet,
which may include reducing salt and increasing potassium, get more active, maintain a healthy
weight, find ways to manage any stress you may have, avoid tobacco products, and limit alcohol
consumption. And that folks, be blood pressure..