If you’ve been to the doctor recently and been told you have high blood pressure, you may wonder how high is high blood pressure? That’s a great question ? and there are ranges of high blood pressure that can be slightly high or dangerously high.
First, you need to know that textbook normal blood pressure is 120/80. But most people don’t have textbook pressure ? and that can still be ok. Normal blood pressure can have a range of anywhere between 90/60 to 120/80. If you’re anywhere in that range you’re in good shape.
Below that and you have what’s known as hypotension ? blood pressure that’s too low. This can be a dangerous problem that needs to be treated. However, most people fall into the category of having high blood pressure, so we’ll focus on those ranges.
If your top number is between 120 and 139 and your bottom number is between 80 and 89, you?re considered to have pre-hypertension. You don’t really have high blood pressure yet, but you need to keep an eye on it and make sure your lifestyle is heart healthy.
If the top number is between 140 and 159 and the bottom number is between 90 and 99, you?re considered to have stage 1 hypertension. Usually at this point your doctor will talk to you about making lifestyle changes. If you agree to do that, you won’t need medication yet.
After six months you’ll go back to your doctor and check in to see if lifestyle changes have caused blood pressure to decrease. You may also be asked to keep a log of blood pressures you take yourself. You can do this at many pharmacies or purchase a blood pressure machine for home use.
If, after six months, you don’t have an improvement in your blood pressure you may need to begin taking a medication to help lower your blood pressure. This will prevent heart disease, heart attack and stroke.
When the top number of your blood pressure is 160 or more and the bottom number is 100 or more, you’re considered to be in stage 2 hypertension. You’ll still need to focus on changing your lifestyle factors, but you’ll probably be prescribed medication right away.
In fact, you may have to take more than one medication to control blood pressure that is very high. However, if you make lifestyle change such as weight loss, lowering the salt in your diet, and adding exercise you may be able to become less dependent on the medication.
Blood pressure is an important measurement, but it can be confusing. Understanding how high is high blood pressure can help you to understand your options when you speak with your healthcare provider about your own measurements.
