What Your Blood Pressure Level Means

Every time you visit the doctor's office, you'll notice that he will wrap an inflatable cuff around your upper arm and take a reading. This reading is your blood pressure reading. It is made up of two numbers and often sounds something like 140 over 80, or 120 over 70.

The two numbers tell us what your blood pressure is. The first number, called the systolic, measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats. The second, or diastolic, tells us how much pressure is being exerted on your arteries between heart beats. Both numbers are measured in millimeters of mercury or mm Hg.

In general, normal blood pressure should be below 120/80 mm Hg. If any of the figures go above these two numbers then you have high blood pressure in one form or another, and are in increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Looking at the chart, you can easily figure out if you are in danger of high blood pressure or not, and if you need to take any actions to improve your levels. On the left (y-axis) is the systolic pressure (the first or upper number), and on the bottom (x-axis) is the diastolic pressure (second or lower number). When plotted, your numbers will fall under one of four areas.

If your blood pressure falls under the green area, meaning the top number is lower than 120 and the bottom number is lower than 80, then congratulations! Your blood pressure falls in the normal range. All you need to do is maintain a healthy lifestyle.

If your numbers fall within the yellow area, like 130/70 or 110/87 for example, then you are pre-hypertensive. Technically, you don't have high blood pressure, but are in danger of having high blood pressure in the near future if you don't make any changes to your lifestyle.

The orange area signifies that your have stage 1 hypertension. Depending on certain factors, your doctor may or may not start you on blood pressure medication. But he will instruct you to make changes to your lifestyle, diet and prescribe exercise to try and bring the levels to 120/80 and below. If your numbers your numbers don't improve in your follow up visits, you will likely be placed on medication.

Falling under the red section means you have stage 2 hypertension. Aside from the lifestyle changes, diet and exercise, you will be prescribed hypertensive medication. Staying at these levels for prolonged periods of time will increase your risk of heart attack and possibly damage your kidneys.