Your blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury, which is abbreviated as mm Hg. There are two numbers involved in the measurement:
Systolic blood pressure. The top number represents the pressure in your blood vessels when your heart beats.
Diastolic blood pressure. The bottom number represents the pressure in your blood vessels between beats when your heart is resting.
Your blood pressure depends on how much blood your heart is pumping, and how much resistance there is to blood flow in your arteries. The narrower your arteries, the higher your bp.
Blood pressure lower than 120/80 mm Hg is considered normal. Blood pressure that’s 130/80 mm Hg or more is considered high. If your numbers are above normal but under 130/80 mm Hg, you fall into the category of elevated blood pressure. This means that you’re at risk of developing high blood pressure.
The good news about elevated blood pressure is that lifestyle changes can significantly reduce your numbers and lower your risk — without requiring medications.
What is Good Normal Blood Pressure?
A good, normal bp reading—taken while seated, with a blood pressure cuff—should be 120/80. The first number is the systolic blood pressure (how much pressure your heart uses when beating), and the second is the diastolic blood pressure (how much pressure is in your arteries between heartbeats). Anything over that is either considered elevated or high.
Those numbers apply across the board for adults over the age of 18, Dr. Osborne says. He notes that decades ago, good blood pressure numbers varied based on age, limits some people still cling to today. But in actuality, it’s all standardized to 120/80.
“The vast majority of hypertension out there is in adults,” he says. “It’s independent of age. It doesn’t matter whether you’re 21 or 81. The numbers are the same.”
For adults, that is. For kids, it’s a little different. BP numbers are based on population and age and are generally lower than with adults. There’s not a standardized set of guidelines for children, “but certainly if you come across a kid that repeatedly has blood pressures that would be high according to the adult category, it’s high,” Dr. Osborne explains.
What can I do if my blood pressure goes up right before doctors’ visits?
Have you ever heard of “white coat syndrome?” It’s what happens when you typically have normal-ranged blood pressure but significantly higher blood pressure in medical settings like hospitals or doctors’ offices. This is often caused by feeling nervousness or anxiety around medical settings. Unfortunately, this means your health provider might think your bp is higher than it really is.
Whitecoat syndrome isn’t uncommon. In fact, one study suggests that 15% to 30% of people who have high blood pressure readings might suffer from white coat syndrome. In cases like these, some patients wonder whether it’s possible to quickly lower their blood pressure before a reading. If you’re in this situation, the safest and
the most effective thing you can do is try your best to relax.
Here are a few relaxation methods you can try:
Bring a friend or family member who can help you stay calm
If you can bring a trusted friend or relative with you to your doctor’s visit, their presence might help you feel more at ease. Even having a conversation to distract you from the clinical atmosphere around you can keep you from dwelling on or stressing about your visit.
Meditate
Meditation and deep breathing are excellent ways to put your body into a state of relaxation. Pop in some earphones and turn on one of your favorite meditation apps to calm your mind before your visit. If you don’t have any apps, close your eyes and take slow breaths in and out while you try to clear your mind.
Find a quiet room where you can wait
Sometimes receptionists and fellow patients in the waiting room can add to your anxiety. Finding a quiet space where you can wait to be called back and focus on taking deep breaths can help prepare you for your blood pressure reading.
What is a dangerous level of blood pressure?
As far as specific numbers for high blood pressure, the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology released updated guidelines in November 2017. It can be broken down into two categories: elevated and high.
Elevated blood pressure ranges from 121/80 to 129/80. It’s generally not treated but serves more as a warning sign that it should be monitored and the patient might explore how to lower blood pressure by making some lifestyle changes.
High blood pressure starts at 130/80 or higher—that’s stage one. Stage two, or the worst degree, is 140/90 and above. If the upper limit of blood pressure is more than 180, that’s where it starts getting really dangerous, increasing the likelihood of an immediate heart attack, heart failure, or stroke.
Who can have High Blood Pressure?
High bp can affect anyone. These risk factors increase your chance of developing the condition:
Family history: Your close relatives with high blood pressure increase your risk since it is often a genetic condition.
Age: The elderly are more at risk for high bp as blood vessels gradually lose some of their elastic quality with time
Sex: Up to the age of 64, men are more likely to get high bp than women. The opposite is true for ages 65 and above.
Race: African-Americans have an elevated risk of high bp.
Kidney disease: This condition is tied to an increase in bp.
Here are few steps you can follow to lower blood pressure in minutes:
1. Lose Weight
If you’re overweight, losing as little as 10 pounds can lower your bp. It will also help with sleep apnea — when your breathing briefly stops multiple times while you sleep. (It can raise your bp and make your heartbeat irregularly.) Shed pounds slowly with a steady mix of healthy eating and exercise.
Keeping tabs on the scale will help your blood pressure take care of itself. Check your readings regularly at home, and try to stay in your target range.
2. Get Regular Exercise
Exercise is the soulmate to eating right. You’re more likely to lose weight if you exercise and follow a healthy diet. Official recommendations call for at least half an hour of exercise most days of the week. The effects can be dramatic: blood pressure drops of four to nine points. Remember that exercise isn’t just going to the gym. It can be gardening, washing your car, or housework. But things that get your heart rate up — aerobic activities — like walking, dancing, jogging, riding your bike, and swimming are best for your heart.
3. Drink less alcohol
Drinking alcohol can raise bp. In fact, alcohol is linked to 16% of high bp cases around the world. While some research has suggested that low-to-moderate amounts of alcohol may protect the heart, those benefits may be offset by adverse effects. In the U.S., moderate alcohol consumption is defined as no more than one drink a day for women and two for men. If you drink more than that, cut back.
Bottom line: Drinking alcohol in any quantity may raise your bp. Limit your drinking in line with the recommendations.
4. Learn to manage stress
Stress is a key driver of high blood pressure. When you’re chronically stressed, your body is in a constant fight-or-flight mode. On a physical level, that means a faster heart rate and constricted blood vessels.
When you experience stress, you might also be more likely to engage in other behaviors, such as drinking alcohol or eating unhealthful food that can adversely affect bp.
5. Eat dark chocolate
Here’s a piece of advice you can really get behind. While eating massive amounts of dark chocolate probably won’t help your heart, small amounts may.
That’s because dark chocolate and cocoa powder are rich in flavonoids, which are plant compounds that cause blood vessels to dilate.
6. Eat a healthy diet
Eating a diet that is rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products and skimps on saturated fat and cholesterol can lower your blood pressure by up to 11 mm Hg if you have high blood pressure. This eating plan is known as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet.
It isn’t easy to change your eating habits, but with these tips, you can adopt a healthy diet:
Keep a food diary. Writing down what you eat, even for just a week, can shed surprising light on your true eating habits. Monitor what you eat, how much, when, and why. Consider boosting potassium. Potassium can lessen the effects of sodium on blood pressure. The best source of potassium is food, such as fruits and vegetables, rather than supplements. Talk to your doctor about the potassium level that’s best for you. Be a smart shopper. Read food labels when you shop and stick to your healthy-eating plan when you’re dining out, too.
7. Reduce sodium in your diet
Even a small reduction in the sodium in your diet can improve your heart health and reduce blood pressure by about 5 to 6 mm Hg if you have high blood pressure.
The effect of sodium intake on blood pressure varies among groups of people. In general, limit sodium to 2,300 milligrams (mg) a day or less. However, a lower sodium intake — 1,500 mg a day or less — is ideal for most adults.
To decrease sodium in your diet, consider these tips:
Read food labels. If possible, choose low-sodium alternatives to the foods and beverages you normally buy.
Eat fewer processed foods. Only a small amount of sodium occurs naturally in foods. Most sodium is added during processing.
Don’t add salt. Just 1 level teaspoon of salt has 2,300 mg of sodium. Use herbs or spices to add flavor to your food.
Ease into it. If you don’t feel you can drastically reduce the sodium in your diet suddenly, cut back gradually. Your palate will adjust over time.
8. Cut back on caffeine
The role caffeine plays in bp is still debated. Caffeine can raise bp up to 10 mm Hg in people who rarely consume it. But people who drink coffee regularly may experience little or no effect on their bp.
Although the long-term effects of caffeine on bp aren’t clear, it’s possible bp may slightly increase.
To see if caffeine raises your bp, check your pressure within 30 minutes of drinking a caffeinated beverage. If your blood pressure increases by 5 to 10 mm Hg, you may be sensitive to the bp-raising effects of caffeine. Talk to your doctor about the effects of caffeine on your bp.
Also read: Things You Should Do Before You Go to Sleep: Health Trends
9. Stop smoking
Stopping smoking is good for your all-around health. Smoking causes an immediate but temporary increase in your bp and an increase in your heart rate.
In the long term, the chemicals in tobacco can increase your blood pressure by damaging your blood vessel walls, causing inflammation, and narrowing your arteries. The hardened arteries cause higher bp.
The chemicals in tobacco can affect your blood vessels even if you’re around secondhand smoke. A study showed that children around secondhand smoke in the home had higher bp than those from nonsmoking homes.
You can follow all these above steps to lower your bp in minutes at home.
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Also read: Science-Backed Health Benefits of Meditation, According to Experts