Understanding Blood Pressure Readings

Visiting your doctor to find out a 120/80 mm Hg blood pressure reading does not make any sense to most people. However, when you understand what these numbers mean, there is a huge difference that usually reflects in your mood according to the category in which your blood pressure falls, from normal to low, or going up toward hypertension.

Blood pressure is the measuring resulting of your heart beating within your body and creating a pulsating force to keep blood moving through your circulatory system. With each beat the heart contracts sending at the time a surge of pressure into the bloodstream called systolic pressure, which is the first number of the blood pressure readings.

The other force of the blood pressure comes after the surge period, making your heart take a brief rest before expanding again for a new beat. The expansion period of the heart is the diastolic pressure, providing the second number returning on a routinely blood pressure check-up, and both forces are measured in millimeters (mm) of mercury (Hg) resulting in the abbreviation mmHg.

Hence, next time when you visit the doctor you will understand that "120 over 80 millimeters of mercury" correspond to blood pressure readings ranging within the boundaries of what is considered a normal blood pressure. 120 systolic pressure and 80 diastolic pressure are the numbers for the optimal blood pressure, but a reading below these numbers is normal if moderated.

Blood pressure readings unveil timely the development of high blood pressure when individuals with normal blood pressure commence the healthy habit to have their blood pressure taken at least once a year. When the reading reveals the existence of long time high blood pressure, your doctor can prescribe medication to control hypertension.

Hypertension is high blood pressure that leads to permanent damage to arteries, kidney disease, blindness heart disease, heart attack and stroke, if not other complications. The sooner you and your doctor detect the rise in blood pressure, the quicker your condition will be controlled while minimizing the harm.

On the opposite side of blood pressure readings, low blood pressure causes hypotension with noticeable symptoms including persistent headaches, dizziness and fainting, occurring especially when people stand up. In general terms, one blood pressure reading is not enough to determine if your blood pressure is normal, high or low.

Typically, the doctor will ask you to take several blood pressure readings at various times during the day or after 2 days or a whole week. These readings can be taken in the doctor's office, or he may recommend have the readings taken at home using a blood pressure monitor.