Blood Pressure Chart: High, Low, Normal Readings

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Definition

Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is the measurement of the pressure of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Arteries carry blood from your heart to other parts of your body. The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association divides blood pressure into four general categories. Ideal blood pressure is categorized as normal. Increased blood pressure may be classified as elevated, stage 1, or stage 2, depending on the specific numbers. High blood pressure (hypertension) can be dangerous if not treated. It can put you at risk for stroke, heart failure, kidney failure, and other medical problems.

Main Digest

NOTE: High blood pressure often does not cause any signs of illness that you can see or feel. It is important to make an appointment with your doctor or another healthcare provider to check your blood pressure.

What Does Blood Pressure Refer To?

Blood pressure refers to the force exerted by circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels and constitutes one of the body's principal vital signs. The pressure of the circulating blood decreases as blood moves through your arteries, arterioles, capillaries, and veins. The term blood pressure generally refers to your arterial pressure, i.e., the pressure in the larger arteries, arteries being the blood vessels that take blood away from the heart. Blood pressure is always given as two numbers;

• Systolic Pressure (when the heart beats)
• Diastolic Pressure (when the heart relaxes)

When the measurements are written, both are written as one above or before, the other with the systolic being the first number, for example, 120/75 (120 over 75). Blood pressure measurement is NOT the same as your heart rate (pulse) or maximum heart rate measurement. Check what your heart rate for your age should be. You can calculate your predicted maximum heart rate by using the calculation: 220 - (age) = Age Predicted Maximum Heart Rate - or see our Target Heart Rate Calculator and Chart.

Measuring Your Blood Pressure

Healthcare professionals use a stethoscope and a manual sphygmomanometer to measure your blood pressure. Typically, they take the reading above your elbow. The sphygmomanometer has a bladder, cuff, bulb, and gauge. When the bulb is pumped, it inflates the bladder inside the cuff wrapped around your arm. This inflation will stop the blood flow in your arteries.

The stethoscope is used to listen for the sound of the heartbeat, and no sound indicates no flow. As the pressure is released from the bladder, you will hear the blood flowing again. That point becomes reading your blood pressure systolic. The diastolic reading is when you hear no sound again, which means the blood flow is back to normal.

NOTE: A healthcare provider recommends you get your blood pressure checked at least once a year. If you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure (or other related conditions), your doctor may recommend getting it checked more often.

Human Blood Pressure Facts

• The general pattern is that blood pressure rises with age, so normal variations are higher for older adults.
• Blood pressure can be higher in obese people because the heart has to work harder to perfuse the body's tissues.
• Factors that influence blood pressure include age, sex, ethnicity, weight, exercise, emotions/stress, pregnancy, and diurnal rhythm, as well as medication use and disease processes.
• Blood pressure is similar in childhood for males and females. After puberty, females have a lower blood pressure than males, whereas, after menopause, females have a higher blood pressure than males.
• The sympathetic nervous system is stimulated by exercise, stress, anxiety, pain, anger, and fear, which increases blood pressure. Blood pressure returns to baseline within five minutes of rest following activity.
• The diurnal cycle influences blood pressure to be lower in the morning and increase throughout the day until early evening. This is one reason healthcare providers document the time a client's blood pressure is taken.
• Research has revealed that ethnicity may be a predictor of blood pressure, but this causation is not necessarily biological but rather sociocultural. When determining the risk for high blood pressure, it is important to consider ethnicity as a contributing factor.
• Blood pressure varies throughout the duration of pregnancy. It decreases about halfway through the first trimester until mid-pregnancy due to progesterone effects that relax the walls of blood vessels, causing decreased peripheral vascular resistance. It returns to pre-pregnancy values toward the end of pregnancy.

Resources Providing Related Information

• Blood Pressure 100 Plus your Age
• View more blood pressure and human body facts

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