Nearly half of all adults in the United States have high blood pressure, meaning they’re at an increased risk for serious health problems. Knowing what hypertension is and what you can do about it can help you assess your own level of risk and take action to protect your health.
Blood is constantly moving through your arteries and veins. Blood pressure is the measure of how much force the blood exerts on the walls of arteries as it circulates. There are two parts to a blood pressure reading: the systolic or top number and the diastolic or bottom number. The systolic blood pressure is the force of blood when the heart actively pumps, and the diastolic measures the force between heartbeats. A normal blood pressure reading is a systolic pressure of less than 120 mmHg and a diastolic pressure of less than 80 mmHg.
Your blood pressure levels can change from minute to minute. Stress, foods you eat, physical activity and other factors can cause levels to go up and down. As a result, it’s possible to have a high blood pressure reading occasionally and not have high blood pressure or hypertension.
Generally, doctors diagnose a person with hypertension when their systolic blood pressure is consistently above 130 mmHg or their diastolic pressure is above 80. If your systolic pressures are between 120 and 129 mmHg, your doctor may monitor you more closely or even start treatment for hypertension if you have other risk factors for heart disease like type 2 diabetes or high cholesterol.
For most people, there isn’t a single cause for high blood pressure. Typically, blood pressure goes up when arteries harden or blockages form in the cardiovascular system. Diet, lack of exercise, smoking and genetics can all contribute to this process. In some cases, hypertension occurs due to another medical condition like kidney disease, obstructive sleep apnea or thyroid disease. When this occurs, doctors call it secondary hypertension.
Uncontrolled high blood pressure increases the risk of:
When blood pressure rises to levels higher than 180/120 mmHg, a medical emergency called a hypertensive crisis occurs. Without treatment, a hypertensive crisis can cause organ damage and even death.
People sometimes call hypertension the silent killer because it rarely causes any symptoms unless pressure levels rise to the hypertensive crisis range. Symptoms of a hypertensive crisis include:
These symptoms often come on suddenly and persist. If you or a loved one shows any of the above symptoms, call 911 for emergency care.
Since hypertension is unlikely to cause symptoms, doctors normally discover that you have it by checking your blood pressure during office visits. If they suspect you have high blood pressure, they'll usually have you begin monitoring your blood pressure at home several times per day. Then, they'll examine the numbers recorded over a few weeks to make a diagnosis.
The good news is that it's possible to lower blood pressure and even potentially prevent hypertension with the right approach. Some possible components for a hypertension care plan include the following.
There are now many medications that can control blood pressure. Some of the most commonly prescribed include:
All medications pose a risk for side effects. Your health care provider may have you try one or more drugs to see which one works the best for controlling your blood pressure levels and causes the least side effects for you.
A lack of physical activity can contribute to high blood pressure, so treatment often involves regular exercise. Try taking regular walks or playing a sport. Dancing, swimming, hiking and aerobics are other activities that can strengthen your heart and lower blood pressure. Residents of the Bethesda Gardens assisted living community in Loveland, Colorado, can also work out in the on-site fitness center.
If you have hypertension, your doctor may recommend that you follow the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension or DASH diet. It emphasizes eating vegetables, fruits, whole grains and lean proteins while reducing your intake of sodium, saturated fat and trans fat. This diet has been clinically shown to lower blood pressure and reduce cholesterol levels to further support heart health.
