The heart is a tough machine that moves blood around the body through arteries and capillaries. The blood then goes back to the heart through veins. Blood pressure is how hard the blood in your body pushes against the inside walls of your arteries when your heart beats.
When the heart squeezes, it pushes blood into the arteries, which raises the pressure. The name for this rise in pressure is "systolic pressure."
When the heart relaxes and fills with blood, the pressure in the arteries drops. This is called the diastolic pressure. When measuring blood pressure in the arm, both of these pressures are taken into account.
Blood pressure is an important measurement that is always given as a systolic and diastolic number. Measurements are always written with one number before or after the other, like 120/80, and are always given in millimetres of mercury (mmHg).
The systolic pressure is the first number, which is at the top, and the diastolic pressure is the second number, which is at the bottom. For example, 120/80 means that your blood pressure is 120 over 80.
Blood pressure can be very different in different people. For example, the top reading (systolic), which is when the heart contracts, can vary from 90 to 240 mmHg, and the bottom reading (diastolic), which is when the heart relaxes, can vary from 40 to 160 mmHg.
What you do during the day can also have a big effect on your blood pressure. Most people have the lowest blood pressure when they are sleeping or when all of their muscles are at rest. Blood pressure can go up if you stand for long periods of time or do any kind of exercise. Anxiety, problems, and nervousness can also cause blood pressure to go up.
That means that in one day, the systolic blood pressure could change by up to 30 to 40 mmHg, and the diastolic pressure could change by the same amount. This is why it's so important to measure blood pressure in the same way every time.
Most of the time when you are awake, your blood pressure stays about the same whether you are sitting or standing still. When the body is at rest, the blood pressure should be 120/80 or lower.
If your blood pressure stays high and stays at 140/90 or higher, this could be a sign of a disease called hypertension, which just means high blood pressure. When your blood pressure is high, your heart has to work harder to move blood through your arteries. When the blood is forced into these, they take a beating, which makes the risk of a stroke, heart attack, or even kidney problems even higher.
High blood pressure is a serious disease that makes the heart work much harder. When the heart has to work harder for a long time, it gets bigger. If the heart is just a little bit bigger, it can and should still work fine, but if it gets a lot bigger, it won't. Damage to the arteries from high blood pressure can also lead to arterial disease.
Heart disease and stroke are more likely to happen if your blood pressure is high. This means that someone whose blood pressure is 130/80 mmHg is more likely to get heart disease than someone whose blood pressure is 120/70 mmHg. And that's why it's so important for everyone to live in a healthy way to keep their blood pressure as low and healthy as possible.
Hypertension can be treated, even if you don't do anything about it. Most Hypertension cases can be treated by making changes to the way you live, like changing your diet or working out more. Some people find that losing weight is enough to bring down their high blood pressure.
When hypertension is severe, you may need to take prescription drugs like diuretics and beta blockers. Diuretics help the body get rid of any extra salt or water. But, from personal experience, you should also keep track of how much potassium is in your body. Beta blockers slow down the heart rate and the amount of blood the heart pumps out. Then, heart and brain problems are less likely to happen.
