The High Blood Pressure Numbers Explained
Have you ever wondered the meaning of those two numbers in your blood pressure? Medical doctors often make such a big deal out of how high or low those numbers are, while we ourselves can’t understand what they mean.
Actually, these numbers tell you how hard your blood is pushing against the walls of your arteries. Just as how water building up in a hose can damage it, your own blood can also damage your arteries and leave you more susceptible to strokes and cardiac arrest.
A blood pressure reading can look like this: 120/80 mmHg. The first number represents the systolic blood pressure, which is the pressure your blood exerts on your arteries when your heart beats. The second number represents the diastolic blood pressure, which is your blood pressure when your heart rests between beats.
A blood pressure reading of 120/80 is considered normal. Most individuals have this blood pressure or slightly lower. Individuals with blood pressures slightly higher than 120/80 are considered prehypertensive, and doctors often start treating them to keep their blood pressures from escalating.
Of the two numbers, it’s long been thought that a higher diastolic blood pressure (the second number) contributed to hypertension and its subsequent medical concerns. However, it’s been recently suggested that higher systolic blood pressures (the first number) also pose a measure of risk, particularly for individuals past the age of 50.
When a person has a blood pressure reading of 140/90 or higher in two different sittings, then that person is said to have hypertension. If not treated, it can lead to several other medical conditions.
When it comes to bringing those numbers down, doctors often suggest life-changing, radical practices to their patients. They often ask their patients to stop smoking or drinking, start getting into a vigorous exercise program, or to change their diets drastically.
When they can’t cope with the doctor’s order (and they usually can’t), they lose any improvement on their blood pressure and get back into hypertension. In other words, hypertension can make a person’s life unpleasant.
But it doesn’t have to.
My hypertension program does not have any drastic practices, or vigorous exercises. In fact, you can incorporate the simple exercises into your daily life. Wouldn’t you want to be one of my customers who have cured their hypertension for good?
So now that you know the meaning of those numbers, it’s much more satisfying to see them go down to 120/80 and stay there.
Warm regards,
Christian Goodman