Blood Pressure
Resources

We want to help you make healthy decisions so you can live a long, fulfilling life. If you already have hypertension, get regular checkups to manage your symptoms. Your provider will likely prescribe a treatment plan and advise you on making healthy lifestyle changes. You may also need to take medications. The goal of treatment is to reduce your blood pressure enough to avoid more serious problems.

Early diagnosis and simple, healthy changes can keep high blood pressure from seriously damaging your health. Our blood pressure resources below can help you get on the right track and help you manage high blood pressure!

• What is high blood pressure?
  • High blood pressure, also known as HBP or hypertension, occurs when the pressure of your blood is consistently too high against the walls of your blood vessels and arteries. Nicknamed “the silent killer,” high blood pressure usually shows no symptoms, yet it can lead to life-threatening conditions like heart attack or stroke. That’s why preventive care is essential.<sup>1
    
    1</sup>https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/index.htm
• What does your blood pressure measurement mean?
  • The top number in your blood pressure reading is “systolic pressure.” This is the pressure in your blood vessels when your heart beats. The bottom number is “diastolic pressure” and it measures the pressure in your blood vessels between heart beats, at rest.² Use the chart below to see how your measurement stacks up.
    
    

    	Systolic	Diastolic
    NORMAL	Less than 120	and less than 80
    ELEVATED	120 - 129	and less than 80
    HYPERTENSION STAGE 1	130 - 139	or 80 - 89
    HYPERTENSION STAGE 2	140 or higher	or 90 or higher
    HYPERTENSIVE CRISIS	Higher than 180	and/or higher than 120

    
    ²https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/measure.htm
• What are the risk factors for high blood pressure?
  • There are controllable and non-controllable risk factors.³

    Controllable	Uncontrollable
    • Smoking	• Family history
    • Diabetes	• Race/ethnicity
    • Being overweight	• Age
    • High cholesterol	• Gender
    • Unhealthy diet
    • Lack of physical activity

    
    Some other, harder to manage factors include chronic kidney disease and obstructive sleep apnea.
    
    ³https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/why-high-blood-pressure-is-a-silent-killer/know-your-risk-factors-for-high-blood-pressure
• Where can you get blood pressure checked?
  • • By your primary care provider at their office
    • At a pharmacy that has a digital blood pressure machine
    • At home with a blood pressure monitor that you can use yourself