Understanding High Blood Pressure

Our hearts contract and circulate blood throughout our bodies an average of 60 to 100 times a minute. While the heart actively contracts and pumps blood into our arteries, the blood pressure increases. When the heart relaxes allowing new blood to enter its' chambers the blood pressure decreases. For this reason healthcare professionals measure two separate components of blood pressure. The systolic blood pressure reflects the pressure in our arteries, while the heart actively contracts and the diastolic pressure reflects the pressure in our arteries, while the heart relaxes. Healthcare professionals generally record blood pressure in the form of a fraction with the higher number reflecting the systolic blood pressure and the lower number reflecting the diastolic blood pressure.

Up until recently, doctors focused more on the diastolic blood pressure and tried to keep the lower number below 90. We now know systolic blood pressure is also important and aim to keep the higher number 140 or less. Therefore the blood pressure for a person with no coexisting heart disease should be 140/90 or less. If you suffer from angina or congestive heart disease, your cardiologist may recommend an even lower blood pressure.

Our blood pressures normally rise in response to exercise, excitement or stress. If your blood pressure increases only occasionally with excitement or stress, you will not suffer any long-term consequences. However, consistently elevated blood pressure increases a person's risk for strokes and coronary artery disease. A stroke occurs when the brain receives insufficient blood flow and oxygen. Strokes commonly cause permanent brain damage leaving a person with difficulty walking or talking. Coronary artery disease is narrowing of the arteries supplying blood flow to the muscle of the heart. Patients with coronary artery disease sometimes suffer heart attacks.

Persistently elevated blood pressure can also damage the kidneys. Kidney tissue does not regenerate and any damage to the kidneys is usually permanent. If kidney damage is severe enough, a patient may require dialysis (an artificial kidney machine).

Several healthcare organizations and the media have nicknamed high blood pressure, the silent killer. This nickname highlights how people rarely suffer symptoms from high blood pressure until it is too late. Once high blood pressure results in a stroke, heart attack or kidney failure the damage is complete. Ask your doctor to check your blood pressure or go to a local drug store and measure your blood pressure. If your blood pressure remains above 140 over 90 on several measurements, you should seek treatment.