The Facts
Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death worldwide - and people
who have abnormally high pressure in their arteries are far more likely than
others to die prematurely of heart disease.
Your arteries carry the blood from your heart throughout your body. Blood pressure
is the measure of how hard your blood is pushing against the inside of your
arteries. Although a certain amount of pressure is needed to carry the blood
through your body, if that pressure is too great, you have high blood pressure,
or hypertension.
When blood pressure is measured, there are two numbers for each reading: for
example, "one-twenty over eighty," written as 120/80. This is because
each heartbeat sends a pressure wave through the bloodstream. The higher figure
(systolic blood pressure) is the peak of the wave. The lower figure (diastolic
blood pressure) is the lower "dip" or trough of the wave. Blood
pressure is always recorded as the systolic number over the diastolic number;
the numbers indicate pressure as measured in millimeters of mercury on
the gauge (mm Hg). Anyone over 140 systolic or 90 diastolic has high blood pressure.
Hypertension is one of the main risk factors for heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. In the United States, about 30% of adults have high blood pressure. Many people are not aware of the problem. Of those who are, less than one-third receive adequate treatment to control their blood pressure.