In addition to your normal, or “ideal,” blood pressure values, there are three categories of blood pressure - hypertension, pre-hypertension, and hypotension - each of which has a different impact on your health. When your blood pressure numbers are consistently greater than 135/85, you’re considered to have high blood pressure, or hypertension (but if you have diabetes or kidney disease, 130/80 is considered a high reading). Healthy blood pressure Optimal blood pressure is a reading of lower than 120/80. During this phase, your heart fills with blood in advance of the next beat.

The diastolic value represents your heart “at rest,” between beats.

The systolic value represents your heart “at work,” the pressure exerted when your heart beats and fills your arteries with blood.

These values are measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). The top number is the systolic and the bottom the diastolic. Your blood pressure is recorded as two numbers (for example, 124/85 mm Hg, as shown in the graphic). The more blood your heart pumps and the more narrow your arteries, the higher your blood pressure. Blood pressure is determined by the amount of blood your heart pumps and the amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries. This pressure is very important because it allows the blood to flow through the arteries and deliver nutrients to all the organs of your body. How does blood pressure relate to cardiovascular disease?īlood pressure is the result of circulating blood exerting pressure against the walls of your arteries.

Blood pressure reading chart pdf