High blood pressure is one of the most common problems people face today. Several factors like age, weight and stress level lead to high blood pressure.

What is blood pressure?
Blood pressure (BP) refers to the pressure of circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels. BP is usually measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg).

High blood pressure is called hypertension and low blood pressure is called hypotension. In the both the conditions, a person needs to consult a doctor for medication.

Blood pressure is not same throughout the day, it keeps changing. It’s the lowest while we are asleep and slowly gets high as we get active.

Blood pressure levels
A blood pressure that reads under 120/80 mmHg is considered to be optimal while readings over 120/80 mmHg and up to 139/89 mmHg are in the normal to high range.

When high blood pressure is persistent, the risk of heart disease increases. As you grow old hypertension becomes more common. So keeping this in mind, a regular check-up is essential for sound health.

Blood pressure can be measured at home or in clinics. First, it is important to be aware of how the chart of high blood pressure is read. It is important to understand what the numbers indicate so that we can take any further step accordingly.

How to read the blood pressure level
Blood pressure readings have two numbers, 120/80 mmHg. When you go through blood pressure readings, the top number is your systolic blood pressure. Systolic is the highest pressure when our heart beats and pumps blood to our body. While the bottom reading is your diastolic blood pressure. Diastolic is the lowest pressure when your heart relaxes between beats.

While going through blood pressure chart, you need to find out your systolic blood pressure on the left side of the chart and read across your diastolic blood pressure on the bottom of the chart. The place where the two meet is the blood pressure.

High blood pressure
If your top number is 140 or more, or your bottom number is 90 or more then you have high blood pressure. You need to consult a doctor immediately. Even if your blood pressure reads more than 120 over 80 you need to lower it as it is slightly higher than a normal blood pressure. If your blood pressure is 140 over 90 (140/90) or higher over a period of time then you need to start with proper medications to control it.

How to control high blood pressure
High blood pressure can lead to heart diseases. Hence it is important to get the blood pressure levels under controls immediately. Firstly, consult a doctor and take the medication for it. Besides that, a few lifestyle changes should be made.

If diagnosed with hypertension, the patient needs to take good care of them by maintaining a proper diet. It is important to get sufficient sleep and exercise as well.