Your blood pressure is so important, but you might not know how to measure it and determine if you’re in a healthy level. Let’s take a look at how to measure your blood pressure health and how to manage it.
Is blood pressure health important?
Blood pressure Health is calculated using two numbers: systolic pressure and diastolic pressure. Systolic pressure measures the pressure inside of the artery when the heart is contracting to pump blood. Diastolic pressure is the pressure inside the artery once the heart finishes contracting and rests between beats. These measurements are divided into five different categories. Each has a window of systolic and diastolic measurements that fall under that category! Get your blood pressure taken at a doctor’s office and see in which category you fall.
- Normal
- Systolic less than 120
- Diastolic less than 80
- Elevated
- Systolic 120-129
- Diastolic less than 80
- High Blood Pressure Stage 1
- Systolic 130-139
- Diastolic 80-89
- High Blood Pressure Stage 2
- Systolic 140 or higher
- Diastolic 90 of higher
- Hypertensive Crisis
- Systolic higher than 180
- Diastolic higher than 120
Typically, your systolic blood pressure is the most important when measuring blood pressure, because this number is more closely liked to cardiovascular disease, especially in people over the age of 50.
Why is it important?
Blood pressure, or hypertension, is known as the silent killer. Blood pressure health for instance, is a major contributor to cardiovascular diseases. There are many risks that come from high blood pressure including:
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Heart failure
- Kidney disease or failure
- Vision loss
- Sexual dysfunction
- Angina
- Peripheral artery disease
How can I prevent high blood pressure?
Your best protection against high blood pressure is knowledge, management, and prevention.
First off, know your numbers. If you know what your blood pressure is at, you can know what habits you need to maintain, what you should stop doing, and if you need professional medical assistance to manage your blood pressure health.
Second, you should maintain a healthy lifestyle. In addition some general wellnesses practices that will help you maintain healthy blood flow and circulation include:
- Shed extra pounds if you’re overweight
- Exercise every day
- Eat heart healthy foods
- Reduce sodium intake
- Limit the alcohol that you drink
- Quit smoking (and don’t start if you don’t already smoke)
- Cut back on caffeine
- Keep stress in check
- Measure your blood pressure at home
- Check in with your doctor regularly
- Take L-arginine Plus