Blood Pressure

Blood is carried from the heart to all parts of your body in vessels called arteries. Blood pressure is the force of the blood pushing against the walls of the arteries. Each time the heart beats (about 60-70 times a minute at rest), it pumps out blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is at its highest when the heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic pressure. When the heart is at rest, between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is the diastolic pressureBlood pressure is always given as these two numbers, the systolic and diastolic pressures. Both are important. UsuallyA blood pressure of 140/90 or higher is considered high blood pressure. Both numbers are important. If one or both numbers are usually high, you have high blood pressure. If you are being treated for high blood pressure, you still have high blood pressure even if you have repeated readings in the normal range.

There are two levels of high blood pressure: Stage 1 and Stage 2 (see the chart below).

Categories for Blood Pressure Levels in Adults*
(In mmHg, millimeters of mercury)

Category	Systolic (Top number)	Diastolic (Bottom number)
Normal	Less than 120	Less than 80
Prehypertension	120-139	80-89
High Blood Pressure	Systolic	Diastolic
Stage 1	140-159	90-99
Stage 2	160 or higher	100 or higher

* For adults 18 and older who:

• Are not on medicine for high blood pressure
• Are not having a short-term serious illness
• Do not have other conditions such as diabetes and kidney disease 

                                                                                             Rayees Ahmad Wani

                                                                                             Clinical Manager

                                                                                             Asha USA Mini Medicine