What is the difference between normal blood pressure and hypertension? In reality, few know it, as one explains studio published in Medical Decision Making (MDM) which reveals that less than half of Americans can distinguish between normal blood pressure and hypertension. And that’s certainly not a good thing, since we know that maintaining normal blood pressure is very important for prevent heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular disease.
How to tell if you have high blood pressure and what to do to keep it low
If we don’t know what they are the values that distinguish normal blood pressure from high blood pressure and hypertension, it can happen that we underestimate our state of health and run into problems.
How to understand blood pressure values
The range of values that define a normal arterial pressure help us understand if we have normal or high blood pressure or if we are hypertensive.
Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) on two values. The first indicates the systolic blood pressure (the so-called “maximum”) and corresponds to the moment in which the heart pumps blood into the arteries; the second value is that of diastolic blood pressure (the “minimum”), measured when the heart relaxes.
How to tell if you have high blood pressure
To know how to evaluate the state of our blood pressure we can adopt the criteria provided by the Italian Society of Arterial Hypertension
The ideal values are those of 120/80 mm Hg, always bearing in mind that having a high maximum exposes more to cardiovascular risk.
If up to values of 130/85 mm Hg we speak of normal pressureconditions that can be stemmed with a healthy lifestyle: physical activity, adequate diet, regular blood pressure checks (here’s how to do it with a free app).
Going up the risk increases even more:
- between 140/90 and 160/100 this is referred to as grade 1 arterial hypertension
- between 160/100 and 180/110 grade 2 arterial hypertension
- over 180/110 it is grade 3 arterial hypertension
These are conditions that need to be addressed with drugs prescribed by the attending physician.
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How to keep high blood pressure at bay
Always from HERE we can get the best results for the correct prevention of hypertension:
1. Do regular physical activity (fitness walking, running, cycling)
2. Follow a diet rich in magnesium and potassium (cereals, fruit, vegetables, citrus fruits, in short, the Mediterranean diet)
3. Check your body weight (here’s what to watch out for)
4. Moderate your alcohol consumption
5. Eliminate smoking
6. Limit stressful conditions (even with anti-stress sports)
7. Reduce your salt intake and the consumption of foods such as cured meats and cheeses
9. Limit the consumption of animal fats, which contain cholesterol (here are 10 tips to lower cholesterol)
9. Limit the consumption of licorice
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