High blood pressure, or hypertension, occurs when your blood pressure increases to unhealthy levels. Your blood pressure measurement considers how quickly blood is passing through your veins and the amount of resistance the blood meets while it’s pumping.

Blood pressure is the force exerted by the blood against the walls of blood vessels, and the magnitude of this force depends on the cardiac output and the resistance of the blood vessels. Hypertension is classified as having blood pressure higher than 140 over 90 mmHg (millimeters of mercury). A diagnosis of hypertension may be made when one or both readings are high. This means the systolic reading (the pressure as the heart pumps blood around the body) is over 140 mmHg (millimeters of mercury) and/or the diastolic reading (as the heart relaxes and refills with blood) is over 90 mmHg.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, occurs when your blood pressure increases to unhealthy levels. Your blood pressure measurement considers how quickly blood is passing through your veins and the amount of resistance the blood meets while it’s pumping. Click here for more information on hypertension.

To control your hypertension, you can either take medicine prescribed by your doctor or try lifestyle changes first. If your blood pressure is very high - higher than 160/100, or when either number is higher – it is recommended that you start with medicine to lower it immediately. Either way, you will need to adjust your lifestyle to live more of a heart-healthy lifestyle and lower your risk for heart attack and stroke.