Blood Pressure High Top Number

Increase The Number Of Fruits And Vegetables

This is a great way to get more natural food into your diet. DASH diet recommends four to five serving of fruit and four to five serving of vegetables, with a serving size being half a cup. Fruits and vegetables are great sources of potassium and magnesium, making them great sources for blood pressure control. You can start by making smaller changes to your diet plan such as choosing to eat fruit instead of an unhealthy snack.

Related:

Treatment For High Blood Pressure

Specific treatment for high blood pressure will be determined by your child’s doctor based on:

• Your child’s age, overall health, and medical history

• Extent of the condition

• Your child’s tolerance to specific medications, procedures, or treatments

• Expectations for the course of the condition

• Your opinion or preference

If a secondary cause has been found, such as kidney disease, the underlying disease will be treated. If no cause has been determined, the first treatment approach is lifestyle therapy, including the following:

• Weight reduction

• Increasing physical activity

These interventions can lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure, improve the strength of the heart, and lower blood cholesterol. These are all important steps in preventing heart disease as an adult.

Medications to control high blood pressure are only needed in about 1 percent of children with the disorder. Consult your child’s doctor for more information.

Buying A Blood Pressure Instrument To Measure Your Blood Pressure At Home

Blood pressure instruments can be purchased in most pharmacies. Buy a blood pressure instrument that has been approved by the Association for the Advancement in Medical Instrumentation , the British Hypertension Society or the International Protocol . These labels will be marked clearly on the box. If you are unsure whether an instrument is approved, ask your pharmacist for help. Once you have bought the instrument, ask your doctor or pharmacist to check it to make sure the instrument measures your blood pressure accurately.

Read Also: What Is A1c In Blood Work

The Basics Of Blood Pressure

A blood pressure reading is made up of two numbers expressed as a fraction. The top number, or systolic pressure, measures how much pressure is in the arteries when the heart contracts. The bottom number, or diastolic pressure, measures the blood pressure between beats.

When your heart pumps, all that blood rushes and fills your arteries, Baker said. Its just like plumbing: if youre pumping more water into the system, the pressure inside the plumbing goes up. Thats your systolic reading. When the heart relaxes and fills, the reading falls and you get the lower number, or your diastolic reading.

Dont Miss: Barton Publishing High Blood Pressure Solution Kit Reviews

What Is Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of arteries as the heart pumps blood. When a health care professional measures your blood pressure, they use a blood pressure cuff around your arm that gradually tightens. The results are given in two numbers. The first number, called systolic blood pressure, is the pressure caused by your heart contracting and pushing out blood. The second number, called diastolic blood pressure, is the pressure when your heart relaxes and fills with blood.

A blood pressure reading is given as the systolic blood pressure number over the diastolic blood pressure number. Blood pressure levels are classified based on those two numbers.

• Low blood pressure, or hypotension, is systolic blood pressure lower than 90 or diastolic blood pressure lower than 60. If you have low blood pressure, you may feel lightheaded, weak, dizzy, or even faint. It can be caused by not getting enough fluids, blood loss, some medical conditions, or medications, including those prescribed for high blood pressure.
• Normal blood pressure for most adults is defined as a systolic pressure of less than 120 and a diastolic pressure of less than 80.
• Elevated blood pressure is defined as a systolic pressure between 120 and 129 with a diastolic pressure of less than 80.
• High blood pressure is defined as 130 or higher for the first number, or 80 or higher for the second number.

Don’t Miss: The Witcher Blood Of Elves

What Do The Readings Mean

As a general guide:

140/90mmHg or over you may have high blood pressureMost doctors use 140/90mmHg as the cut off for point for diagnosing . This is the point where your risk of serious health problems goes up. They might prescribe and advise you to make changes to your to bring your blood pressure down. 120/80mmHg up to 140/90mmHg pre-high blood pressureAlso called high-normal blood pressure. This is not high blood pressure, but it is a little higher than it should be and means you could go on to develop high blood pressure. See how you can make to lower it. 90/60mmHg up to 120/80mmHg ideal blood pressureAlso called normal blood pressure. Your blood pressure reading is healthy. At this level you have a much lower risk of heart disease and stroke. Following a will help you to keep it in the healthy range. 90/60mmHg or lower you may have low blood pressure usually isnt a problem, but it can sometimes make you feel faint or dizzy or could be a sign of another health problem.

The video below explains how your blood pressure numbers are linked to the risk of stroke and other disease.

When Youve Just Been Diagnosed

Also Check: Can Blood Pressure Medicine Cause Erectile Dysfunction

Next Steps In The Research

We can look at mortality, we can look at different predictors related to blood pressure, specifically the pulse pressure, which is a mathematical subtraction of the systolic and diastolic numbers, Flint said. In certain circumstances, it may be an independent predictor that is important, so were exploring that.

Flint says this study was carried out using a big data approach with information from the Kaiser healthcare system.

We have many, many clinics and all those clinics are putting data into electronic medical records, so we are really able to do analytics like this at a close to population-level, Flint said.

In the not-too-distant future, he said, researchers may be gathering blood pressure data from noninvasive wearable sensors.

This is sort of a stepping stone toward that even bigger data approach to learning more about the relationship between blood pressure and other factors and the risk of cardiovascular events. We could hopefully identify people at much finer level who are at risk and tailor medical therapy for them, Flint added.

What’s The Difference Between Blood Pressure And Pulse

While your blood pressure is the force of your blood moving through your blood vessels, your heart rate is the number of times your heart beats per minute.

• They are two separate measurements and indicators of health.
• For people with high blood pressure , theres no substitute for measuring blood pressure.

Read Also: Blood Clot After Venaseal Procedure

Causes Of Low Blood Pressure

Blood pressure level below 90/60 mmHg is considered low. The most common reasons for lowered blood pressure are low blood volume , over treatment of high blood pressure, or taking certain medications that can lower blood pressure, says Susan Besser, MD, a primary care provider who specializes in Family Medicine at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore.

Here are some other common reasons for sudden drops in blood pressure levels and chronic hypotension:

• Certain medications, like heart medicines or depression medications
• Certain health problems like heart disease or thyroid disease
• Trauma that results in blood loss or blood infection
• Heavy menstrual periods
• Extreme changes in body temperature

Some people are more likely to have low blood pressure levels based on their age, sex, and medical history. Here are the top risk factors for getting hypotension:

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.

Also Check: What Is To High Blood Sugar Level

What Causes Systolic Hypertension

Several psychological and physical factors can impact systolic blood pressure in an individual. However, it is important to keep in mind that blood pressure is not a static measurement, as the values for both systolic and diastolic ranges change constantly throughout the day. This is because your circulatory system is a dynamic structure that has to adjust to various stressors. As a result, your doctor will never make a diagnosis of hypertension from a single visit, but rather take blood pressure readings across multiple visits before making a definite diagnosis.

Every organ in the body contributes to your blood pressure, with the kidneys, heart, and brain playing the biggest roles in systolic blood pressure values. Heart health can directly create a significant impact on systolic blood pressure, as the force its creates may have to pump harder if you suffer from medical conditions. Having kidney failure will also lead to increases in blood pressure due to the ineffective removal of excess fluid, creating an increased burden on the heart.

Factors affecting our mental state, such as being frightened or anxious, can also affect systolic blood pressure. This is an autonomic response by the body to help deal with immediate stressors. These situations typically result in increased heart rate and blood pressure, as your body is preparing to go into action.

Top 10 High Blood Pressure Medications

Drugs that treat high blood pressure are known as antihypertensives. Blood pressure medications work by:

• reducing the amount of water and salt in your body
• causing the blood vessels to relax to keep them from narrowing
• hampering nerve activity that causes blood vessels to restrict
• lowering your heart rate and helping it beat with less force

There are several classes of antihypertensive medications, and each class includes several drug options. Your doctor will work with you to find the best treatment plan.

The following list provides the top 10 blood pressure medications by prescriptions written. The list includes a brief description of each drug, including its class, how to take it, and what it treats. The next section provides more information on drug classes.

The most common high blood pressure medications by total prescriptions written include:

Recommended Reading: Blood Sugar 101 In The Morning

How Is It Treated

If your systolic blood pressure is too high, your doctor may prescribe medicine to help bring it down. Drugs used to control blood pressure include:

• Diuretics to help your kidneys flush water and sodium from your body
• Beta-blockers to make your heart beat slower and less forcefully
• Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers , or calcium channel blockers to relax your blood vessels
• Renin inhibitors to keep your kidneys from making a chemical that can lead to higher blood pressure

Your doctor also may recommend you do a few other things:

• If you smoke, stop. There are lots of good reasons for this, but nicotine in cigarette smoke can raise your blood pressure.
• Lower the amount of salt in your diet.
• Cut back on alcohol if you drink.
• Get to or stay at a healthy weight.

Why Is High Blood Pressure A Concern

High blood pressure, or hypertension, directly increases the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke . With high blood pressure, the arteries may have an increased resistance against the flow of blood, causing the heart to pump harder to circulate the blood.

Heart attack and stroke related to high blood pressure are rare in children and adolescents. Yet, studies of young adults with high blood pressure found that many had high blood pressure as a child. By their 20s, studies show that children and adolescents with high blood pressure will exhibit harmful effects on the heart and blood vessels even with mild hypertension.

Recommended Reading: Average Blood Loss During Period

How Can You Reduce Your Risk Of High Blood Pressure

Fortunately, there are certain things you can do to help reduce your risk of developing high blood pressure. These include the following:

• Eat right: A healthy diet is an important step in keeping your blood pressure normal. The DASH diet emphasizes adding fruits, vegetables and whole grains to your diet while reducing the amount of sodium. Since its rich in fruits and vegetables, which are naturally lower in sodium than many other foods, the DASH diet makes it easier to eat less salt and sodium.
• Keep a healthy weight: Going hand-in-hand with a proper diet is keeping a healthy weight. Since being overweight increases your blood pressure, losing excess weight with diet and exercise will help lower your blood pressure to healthier levels.
• Cut down on salt: The recommendation for salt in your diet is to have less than 1,500 milligrams of sodium a day . To prevent hypertension, you should keep your salt intake below this level. Don’t forget that most restaurant foods and many processed and frozen foods contain high levels of salt. Use herbs and spices that do not contain salt in recipes to flavor your food do not add salt at the table.
• Keep active: Even simple physical activities, such as walking, can lower your blood pressure .
• Drinkalcoholin moderation: Having more than one drink a day and two drinks a day can raise blood pressure.

What Is High Blood Pressure Anyway

Letâs first begin with how the heart functions. With each beat, the heart pumps oxygen-rich blood to the rest of your body in an ongoing, life-sustaining cycle. The forceor pressureof that contraction is what keeps your blood flowing through your arteries and veins.

There are two types of pressure that get generated:

A healthy blood-pressure reading is written out like this: 120/80 mmHg , with the systolic number on top and the diastolic number below. Spoken out loud, youll hear: 120 over 80. Its only when your numbers spike higher than 129 and tick upward of 80 , that youre venturing into hypertensiona.k.a. high blood pressure territory.

Your blood pressure goes up when youre active. It goes down when you chill out. Its highest in the morning when you wake up and lowest when you sleep. These types of fluctuations occur normally. However, when its continually above normal, you have a problem.

Why? Because HBP can do A LOT of damage. It strains and stiffens your blood vessels, which can make your heart work harder than it shouldand that can lead to a range of heart disorders, some of them quite serious.

You May Like: High Red Blood Cell Count Meaning

Treating High Blood Pressure

Treatment for high blood pressure will depend on your blood pressure levels and your associated risk of developing a cardiovascular disease, such as a heart attack or stroke.

There are seven main risk factors for developing a cardiovascular disease. These are:

• having a high level of cholesterol in your blood
• having a family history of cardiovascular disease .

Understanding Blood Pressure Readings

Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury .

There are several different blood pressure categories, which are

One of the biggest challenges with high blood pressure is that it typically has no symptoms or warning signs. The only way to know whether your blood pressure is too high is to get it measured.

There are when it comes to getting your blood pressure checked. You can get it measured:

• at your doctors office or during a health checkup
• at a pharmacy with a digital blood pressure measuring device
• at home with a home blood pressure monitor

Also Check: Can Stress Increase Blood Pressure