Significance

• Blood pressure is the amount of pressure in mmHg (millimeters of mercury) that your blood exerts against your blood vessels. These measurements are important because research indicates that people with chronically high blood pressure face a higher risk of heart disease and stroke.
  
  

Systolic Blood Pressure

• The systolic blood pressure is the top number in a standard blood pressure reading. It tells the pressure that your blood exerts during a heartbeat. The pressure of the blood against the blood vessel walls is highest during a heartbeat.
  
  

Diastolic Blood Pressure

• Diastolic blood pressure is the bottom number in a standard blood pressure reading. It tells the pressure exerted against the blood vessel walls during the time in between heartbeats. The pressure is lower in the time between heartbeats than during the heartbeat.
  
  

Factors That Affect Blood Pressure

• Your blood pressure will be higher when you are under stress. In addition, individuals with plaque inside their arteries or with stiffer blood vessels due to disease will have higher blood pressure because the heart has to work harder to pump blood through the blood vessels.
  
  

High Blood Pressure

• Blood pressure is considered to be borderline high when the systolic pressure is higher than 120 or the diastolic pressure is higher than 80. Blood pressure is considered to be significantly high when the numbers are higher than 140 and 90, respectively.
  
  

Treating High Blood Pressure

• Eating a proper diet and exercising regularly can strengthen the heart and improve the health of the blood vessels, so it may be a first-line course of treatment for individuals with borderline high blood pressure. Individuals with dangerously high blood pressure will usually be prescribed antihypertensive drugs.
  
  

When Only One Number Is High

• High diastolic blood pressure is sometimes said to be more concerning in terms of indicating underlying disease, because it implies that the blood vessel walls are more rigid, whereas a high systolic blood pressure with a normal diastolic blood pressure could indicate a more temporary condition.