130 Over 70 Blood Pressure

What Is A Good Blood Pressure Reading

According to the American Heart Association, a normal blood pressure reading is lower than 120/80. While there is no specific number for low blood pressure, most experts say blood pressure is too low when it causes symptoms or drops suddenly. In general, though, low blood pressure can be considered anything under 90/60.

What Can I Expect If I Have This Condition

Since high blood pressure doesnt cause many symptoms at first, you probably wont feel any different with a high blood pressure diagnosis. But its important to follow your providers instructions to bring your blood pressure down so it doesnt cause serious illnesses later in life.

How long does high blood pressure last?

If you have primary high blood pressure, youll need to control it for the rest of your life.

If you have secondary high blood pressure, your blood pressure will most likely come down after you receive treatment for the medical problem that caused it. If a medication caused your high blood pressure, switching to a different medicine may lower your blood pressure.

What is the outlook for high blood pressure?

You can get seriously ill if you dont treat your high blood pressure. However, if you take the medicines your provider ordered, you can control your blood pressure. Exercising and eating healthy foods also helps lower your blood pressure.

Q: What Advice Do You Give Patients Whose Blood Pressure Is In The 130/80 Range Who Previously Werent Diagnosed With High Blood Pressure And Now They Have It

A: This new classification is not saying that you or your doctor have been doing anything wrong with your blood pressure. We have always classified blood pressure above 120/80 as high. The goal of the new classification is to raise awareness about high blood pressure and improve treatment. By diagnosing high blood pressure earlier, we can help prevent more heart attacks and strokes. These new guidelines are not necessarily going to change whether you are prescribed medication for your high blood pressure or what medications youre on the levels. Were still prescribing the same medications you were on before. We are trying to help give everyone access to the treatments they need and more early aggressive treatment. Were just focusing a lot more on diet, weight loss and exercise.

Its really at 140/90 that were treating patients with medications. At 130/80, were looking at lifestyle changes. Its only people with a lot of risk factors that we will be aggressive with and try to get lower than 130/80.

Read Also: Broken Blood Vessel In Nose

Who Was And Wasnt Studied In The Sprint Blood Pressure Trial

Do the study results apply to you or your older relative? This is one of the two most important questions to ask yourself, when you hear exciting news about clinical research.

Why? Because a well-done medical study tells us what health outcomes happened when we applied a certain intervention to a certain group of people. If you arent like the people who were studied, then theres a higher chance you wont experience the benefits that study participants did.

So who was in SPRINT? Here are the criteria the researchers used to define the study group, and enroll participants.

What the SPRINT participants were like:

Its equally important to consider who was excluded from SPRINT. You may have already heard that SPRINT didnt cover people with diabetes or stroke, but the exclusion list is much longer than that.

What the SPRINT participants were not like: Older persons with any of the following diagnoses, conditions, or circumstances were not eligible for the study:

• Clinical diagnosis of dementia, and/or being on dementia medication
• People residing in a nursing home.
• Substance abuse
• Symptomatic heart failure within the past 6 months or left ventricular ejection fraction < 35%
• Polycystic kidney disease or eGFR < 20
• Significant history of poor compliance with medications or attendance at clinic visits.

As you can see, quite a lot of common diagnoses and circumstances were grounds for exclusion from the SPRINT study.

What Does A Blood Pressure Reading Look Like

When you have your , you will be given two numbers, a top number and a bottom number.

• Systolic blood pressure. This is the first, or top, number. This is the highest level your blood pressure reaches when your heart beats, forcing blood around your body.
• Diastolic blood pressure. The second number, or bottom number, is the lowest level your blood pressure reaches as your heart relaxes between beats.

Blood pressure is measured in millimetres of mercury . If the first number is 120 and the second number is 80, this would be written as 120/80mmHg, and youd call it 120 over 80.

This video explains more about systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

You May Like: When To Test For Blood Sugar

Know Your Blood Pressure Numbers

To manage your blood pressure, you need to know which blood pressure numbers are ideal and which ones are cause for concern.

In general, meeting the criteria for hypotension has more to do with symptoms and specific situations than with exact numbers. But institutions like the and the United Kingdoms National Health Service consider people hypotensive if their blood pressure falls within this range:

The numbers for hypotension serve as a guide, while the numbers for hypertension are more precise. According to the , these ranges represent normal, elevated, or high blood pressure:

When looking at these numbers, notice that only one of them needs to be too high to put you in a hypertensive category. For example, if your blood pressure is 119/81, youd be considered to have stage 1 hypertension.

More Information About A Blood Pressure Reading Of 130/70

A blood pressure reading of 130/70 is pronounced “130 over 70.” You may also see it written colloquially as 130/70 bp.

In a blood pressure reading of 130/70, 130 is called the systolic number and 70 is called the diastolic number. Systolic refers to the part of the cardiac cycle in which the heart contracts and pumps blood from the chambers into the arteries, and diastolic refers to the part of the cardiac cycle in which the heart relaxes and allows the chambers to fill with blood. You may also hear the systolic and diastolic numbers referred to as the top number and the bottom number.

Systolic and diastolic readings are measured in mmHg, which is a unit of pressure equal to the pressure that can support a column of mercury 1 millimeter high. Hg is the chemical symbol for mercury. For a blood pressure reading of 130/70, you would pronounce it “130 over 70 millimeters of mercury.”

Read Also: Blood Clot In Umbilical Cord

What Hypertension Stage One Does To Your Body

High blood pressure is a risk factor in cardiovascular disease. Hypertension silently causes mass destruction within the bodys vascular system. Healthy arteries are flexible and strong, but elevated blood pressure causes the pressure of blood flowing through the arteries to increase. This increased pressure eventually damages the cell lining of arteries. The damage can cause an array of problems, including aneurysms, limited blood flow, and fatty deposits.

Your brain-health is also impacted by hypertension. Without an adequate blood supply to nourish it, your brain becomes vulnerable to strokes, TIAs, cognitive impairment, and dementia.

Healthy blood vessels are needed for your kidneys to filter waste and excess fluids from the body. Glomerulosclerosis occurs when tiny blood vessels in the kidneys become scarred due to high blood pressure, leaving your kidneys unable to effectively do their job and dangerous levels of waste and fluids to accumulate. High blood pressure is actually one of the most common causes of kidney failure.

The tiny blood vessels in the eyes can also be damaged by hypertension, which can cause problems that distort your vision or lead to vision loss. Severe retinal and nerve damage can even cause permanent blindness.

Do Blood Pressure Medications Work

Yes, blood pressure medications can help lower blood pressure while youre taking them. But your blood pressure rises again if you stop taking them because blood pressure drugs dont treat the cause .

Less than half of patients keep taking their blood pressure medications for two reasons.

• You cant feel high blood pressure
• Blood pressure medications usually have unpleasant side effects such as cramps, fatigue, erectile dysfunction.

If you dont make lifestyle changes, dont bother taking blood pressure medications, because they wont work effectively ~Luke Laffin, MD.

Recommended Reading: Can You Take Claritin With High Blood Pressure

You May Like: How Do You Know Your Blood Sugar Is Low

What You Should Know About A Blood Pressure Of 130/75

What is high normal blood pressure? Hypertension guidelines exist to aid both medical professionals and patients in defining, understanding, and treating blood pressure measurements in accordance with its stage of severity. According to the CDC, some 75 million US adults have high blood pressure, but only 54 percent have it under control. Between missed work, health services, and prescriptions alone, hypertension costs the US almost 50 billion per year. The hypertension classification system was developed by The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association to offer a more comprehensive and systematic approach to blood pressure identification and management.

Prehypertension is the elevated or high normal blood pressure stage of that scale. Less than 120/80 mmHg readings are considered within the normal blood pressure range. Once blood pressure measurements rise up to 129 mmHg systolic but remain less than 80 diastolic, the readings are considered elevated. Stage one hypertension ranges from 130-139/80-89 mmHg, stage two hypertension ranges from 140-180/90-120 mmHg, and stage three hypertension covers readings higher than 180/120 mmHg.

Think of the elevated blood pressure stage as a red flag thats telling you to proceed with caution. Its a warning sign that something is causing your blood pressure to rise above normal. If left unmanaged, theres a strong probability of it continuing to rise into the other hypertensive stages.

Urgent Care Center In Rochester New York

Regular medical checkups can benefit your health in a lot of ways. Monitoring your vitals, like your blood pressure, and chronic disease management can get you ahead of the possible illness and complications you might develop. Prevention is always better than a cure.

Reach out to us at the Cornerstone Urgent Care Center for in-house diagnostic testing and your other medical needs. You may contact us at 207-0088 or send us a message to let us know youre coming. We are open from 8 am to 8 pm Mondays to Fridays and 9 am to 7 pm during the weekends. We look forward to helping you live a healthier life!

Also Check: Over The Counter Blood Pressure Pills

When To Call Your Healthcare Provider

A hypertensive crisisdefined as blood pressure above 180/120 mm Hgrequires immediate medical attention. Call 911 if you are also experiencing symptoms such as chest pain, back pain, shortness of breath, difficulty speaking, a change in vision, weakness, or numbness.

Why Is Your Blood Pressure Important

Your blood pressure is important because if it is too high, it affects the blood flow to your organs. Over the years, this increases your chances of developing heart disease, stroke, chronic kidney disease, eye disease, erectile dysfunction and other conditions.

Very occasionally, people with very high blood pressure are at serious risk of problems and need urgent treatment in hospital to reduce the risk of a stroke or heart attack.

Current Australian guidelines recommend that if you have persistent raised blood pressure over 160/100 mmHg, but are at low risk of having a stroke or heart attack, you should talk to your doctor or specialist about taking medication to lower your blood pressure.

For further information, visit the Choosing Wisely Australia website.

If youre over 18, you should have your blood pressure checked by your doctor at least every 2 years, or more often if advised.

Recommended Reading: Blood Test For Fungal Lung Infection

How Can You Bring Your Blood Pressure Down Quickly

Your brain regulates blood pressure to survive in your environment. You can lower your blood pressure within a couple of minutes by activating your parasympathetic nervous system with deep breathing, meditation, yoga, or tai chi.

When your brain perceives a safe environment, it activates the parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic lowers heart rate and blood pressure for digestion, healing, and rest. .

Your brain activates the sympathetic nervous system when it perceives danger, real or imaginary. Your sympathetic system raises your heart rate blood pressure to prepare your body for action.

What Is High Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is recorded with 2 numbers. The systolic pressure is the force at which your heart pumps blood around your body.

The diastolic pressure is the resistance to the blood flow in the blood vessels.

They’re both measured in millimetres of mercury .

As a general guide:

• high blood pressure is considered to be from 140/90mmHg or 150/90mmHg if you’re over the age of 80
• ideal blood pressure is usually considered to be between 90/60mmHg and 120/80mmHg, while the target for over-80s is below 150/90mmHg

Blood pressure readings between 120/80mmHg and 140/90mmHg could mean you’re at risk of developing high blood pressure if you do not take steps to keep your blood pressure under control.

Everyone’s blood pressure will be slightly different. What’s considered low or high for you may be normal for someone else.

Recommended Reading: 144 Over 90 Blood Pressure

Risks Of High Blood Pressure

If your blood pressure is too high, it puts extra strain on your blood vessels, heart and other organs, such as the brain, kidneys and eyes.

Persistent high blood pressure can increase your risk of a number of serious and potentially life-threatening health conditions, such as:

• have a relative with high blood pressure
• are of black African or black Caribbean descent
• live in a deprived area

Making healthy lifestyle changes can sometimes help reduce your chances of getting high blood pressure and help lower your blood pressure if it’s already high.

What To Do If Your Blood Pressure Reading Is 130/74

A blood pressure reading of 130/74 could be interpreted as warning sign since its on the high side of normal.

People with pre-hypertension often develop hypertension, so having your blood pressure checked regularly is important.

As an aside, home blood pressure monitors are amazingly affordable and great way to stay on top of your blood pressure. So invest in your health and check out .

Already on blood pressure medicine? If so, this level of blood pressure may be considered adequate, especially if your systolic blood pressure is between 120 and 130.

Read Also: Blood At The End Of Urination

High Blood Pressure Redefined For First Time In 14 Years: 130 Is The New High

Highlights

• High blood pressure is now defined as readings of 130 mm Hg and higher for the systolic blood pressure measurement, or readings of 80 and higher for the diastolic measurement. That is a change from the old definition of 140/90 and higher, reflecting complications that can occur at those lower numbers.
• In the first update to comprehensive U.S. guidelines on blood pressure detection and treatment since 2003, the category of prehypertension is eliminated.
• While about 14 percent more people will be diagnosed with high blood pressure and counseled about lifestyle changes, there will only be a small increase in those who will be prescribed medication.

Embargoed until 12:30 p.m. PT / 3:30 p.m. ET Monday, Nov. 13, 2017

ANAHEIM, California, Nov. 13, 2017 High blood pressure should be treated earlier with lifestyle changes and in some patients with medication at 130/80 mm Hg rather than 140/90 according to the first comprehensive new high blood pressure guidelines in more than a decade. The guidelines are being published by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology for detection, prevention, management and treatment of high blood pressure.

The guidelines were presented today at the Associations 2017 Scientific Sessions conference in Anaheim, the premier global cardiovascular science meeting for the exchange of the latest advances in cardiovascular science for researchers and clinicians.

Blood pressure categories in the new guideline are:

Q: Does The Blood Pressure Of Patients Elevate At The Doctors Office

A: It does. Thats why 30 minutes before your appointment, we dont want you to have any caffeine. We dont want you exercising 30 minutes before your blood pressure is checked. And we dont want you smoking 30 minutes before your blood pressure is checked. We want you to be able to sit still for five minutes with your feet on the floor to allow you to come to a relaxed state. When the blood pressure is being checked, you want to make sure the cuff is above the elbow level. Make sure youre not talking during the check. The guidelines also emphasize rechecking your blood pressure in 30 minutes if it is elevated and then averaging those numbers.

You May Like: How To Lower Blood Sugar Immediately Without Insulin

When To Check Blood Pressure

• If your blood pressure is normal , get it checked every year, or more often as your doctor suggests.
• If your blood pressure is elevated — a systolic blood pressure between 120 and 129 or diastolic blood pressure of less than 80 — your doctor will probably want to check it every 3-6 months. They will probably recommend lifestyle changes like more exercise and a better diet.
• If you have stage 1 hypertension — 130-139 over 89-90 — the doctor might suggest lifestyle changes and see you again in 3-6 months. Or they could tell you to make the changes and give you medication, then recheck your condition in a month. It depends on what other health conditions or risk factors you have.
• If you have stage 2 hypertension — 140/90 or higher — youâll likely get medication. You’ll also need to make lifestyle changes and see the doctor again in a month.