current 2019 blood pressure guidelines chart printable

Limit alcohol to 2 drinks a day for men and 1 drink a day for women.Eat heart-healthy foods, and limit sodium.These risk factors include race, age, and having others in your family who have high blood pressure. These changes are even more important if you have risk factors for high blood pressure that you can't change. What can you do to prevent it?Ī heart-healthy lifestyle can help you prevent high blood pressure. If these lifestyle changes don't help enough, you may also need to take daily medicines. Your doctor may ask you to lose extra weight, eat less sodium, and be more active. The two types of treatment for high blood pressure are lifestyle changes and medicines. To diagnose high blood pressure, your doctor needs to know if your blood pressure is high throughout the day. footnote 3, footnote 4 This is because your blood pressure can change throughout the day. Your doctor may ask you to test it again when you are home. How is it diagnosed?ĭuring a routine visit, your doctor will measure your blood pressure. Very high blood pressure (such as 180/120 or higher) can cause severe headaches and vision problems. Most people don't know they have it until they go to the doctor for some other reason. High blood pressure doesn't usually cause symptoms. These include aging, drinking too much alcohol, eating a lot of sodium (salt), being overweight, and not exercising. But they know that some things are linked to it. What causes it?Įxperts don't fully understand the exact cause of high blood pressure. High blood pressure increases the risk of stroke, heart attack, and other problems. The bottom number may be 80 to 90 or higher. For diagnosis, the top number may be 130 to 140 or higher. High blood pressure means that the top number stays high, or the bottom number stays high, or both. It shows how hard the blood pushes between heartbeats, when your heart is relaxed and filling with blood.

The second (bottom) number is the diastolic pressure. It shows how hard the blood pushes when your heart is pumping. The first (top) number is the systolic pressure. Two numbers tell you your blood pressure. But if it stays up, you have high blood pressure (hypertension). It's normal for blood pressure to go up and down throughout the day. Condition Basics What is high blood pressure?īlood pressure is a measure of how hard the blood pushes against the walls of your arteries.

Current 2019 blood pressure guidelines chart printable