What is considered high blood pressure?
Blood pressure is a combination of two numbers: the systolic and diastolic. The systolic is the higher number which represents when blood is pumping, driving blood flow out of the heart and into the body and lungs. The diastolic number is when the heart is at rest during the period of time when filling with blood. The systolic number is said over the diastolic number such as 120 over 80, and is written as 120/80.
120/80 is a normal blood pressure reading. Anything above those numbers means you have high blood pressure.
There are medicines to treat high blood pressure that are prescribed by your doctor, but there are other effective ways to avoid high blood pressure:
- Lose weight
- Exercise
- Eat right
- Reduce sodium intake
- Drink less alcohol