Blood pressure is the force with which the blood passes through the arteries and the pressure it makes against the walls of these arteries as it is pumped by the heart. When this force is high, that is, when the tension is high, the heart is making a great effort to pump it, which is dangerous since it is directly related to cardiovascular diseases.
WHEN IS BLOOD TENSION CONSIDERED HIGH?
You have high blood pressure when the values are 140 mmHg for systolic blood pressure and 90 mmHg for diastolic blood pressure, we speak of high blood pressure, although sometimes it is already considered with values of 140/85 mmHg.
Systolic is the pressure that occurs during the beat, it is the maximum ; while dystolic is the pressure exerted between beat and beat, it is the minimum .
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR SECURITIES ARE RELIABLE?
To be sure that your values are real, the ideal is that you take your blood pressure when you have been awake for a while, fasting and without having exerted yourself before - for example, sport - or having smoked.
And repeat the measurement in these conditions half an hour later. Arm blood pressure monitors are the most reliable for measurement.
HOW TO ASSESS YOUR BLOOD TENSION
These are the values that you should take into account:
The ideal figures. Systolic or "high" is less than 120 mmHg and diastolic or "low" is less than 80 mmHg
- Normal. 120 - 129 mmHg / 80 - 84 mmHg
- Normal pulling high. 130 - 139 mmHg / 85 - 89 mmHg
- Grade 1 hypertension. 140 - 159 mmHg / 90 - 99 mmHg
- Grade 2 hypertension. 160 - 179 mmHg / 100 -109 mmHg
- Grade 3 hypertension. 180 mmHg or more / 110 mmHg or more
WHEN SHOULD YOU BEGIN TO WORRY?
The seventh Report of the Joint National Commission on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of Arterial Hypertension speaks of prehypertension when the systolic pressure is 120 to 139 mmHg and the diastolic is 80 to 89 mmHg.
If your values are in a high normal category, that is, in 130 - 139 mmHg / 85 - 89 mmHg, it would be important that you review your habits to see how you can make them decrease to 120 - 129/80 - 84 mmHg.
SYMPTOMS OF HIGH BLOOD TENSION
As we said, it is a "silent killer", so there are no symptoms that can alert you. What is true is that many people, when they have a rise in pressure, tend to suffer from headaches.
