What is High Blood Pressure?

To keep a tire of a bicycle inflated, pressure from air against the inside lining of the tire holds it in place. If there is not enough air in the tire it looks deflated or if it is the right pressure of air the tire is good to go. In much the same way, the body works with blood pressure. The blood vessels have an inner lining that gets pressure from the flowing blood, and this is called 'blood pressure'. The blood pressure is the forcefulness of the blood pressing against the blood vessel lining, just like the bicycle tire and its pressing air.

The health care professional will determine how much pressure a patient's blood is exerting on blood vessels by the use of a sphygmomanometer, or as more commonly known, a blood pressure cuff. The measurement of this pressure is read in two different numbers, with one number over the other in the readout. When the heart is pumping blood through the blood vessels, the number for when it contracts (is active) is called the top number or the systolic measurement while the bottom number is when the heart is resting and this is the diastolic measurement.

The measurement of blood pressure is a readout in millimeters, a mercury measurement. During the course of the day, the reading will vary as the blood pressure changes. As the day goes on, the activity levels that an individual experiences will vary or stress factors may come into play which will change the pressure of the blood.

There are normal ranges for blood pressure readings and when the pressure for the blood against the lining of the blood vessels, which are the veins and arteries, becomes too intense, the condition is called hypertension. Tension is the operative word here meaning that when individuals experience too much tension they will be subject to high blood pressure. Those persons who experience excessive tension over an extended period of time have compromised their blood pressure.

In diagnosing high blood pressure, the determination that the health care professional looks for is when the top number is higher than 140 and the bottom number is higher than 90 after taking a reading of the blood pressure in a number of readings. When these numbers are consistent, it is considered high blood pressure.

Normal blood pressure is considered to be readings that are 120 mm or under for the top number and 80 mm or under for the bottom number. Unfortunately, nearly half the people who do have high blood pressure have no idea there is a problem. Those who have a routine physical exam end up being very surprised to find they have hypertension.