High blood pressure (HBP) is a serious condition that can lead tocoronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, and other health problems."Blood pressure" is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps blood. If this pressure rises and stays high over time, it can damage the body in many ways.
Blood Pressure Numbers
Blood pressure is measured as systolic (sis-TOL-ik) and diastolic (di-ah-STOL-ik) pressures. "Systolic" refers to blood pressure when the heart beats while pumping blood. "Diastolic" refers to blood pressure when the heart is at rest between beats.
You most often will see blood pressure numbers written with the systolic number above or before the diastolic number, such as 120/80 mmHg. (The mmHg is millimeters of mercury—the units used to measure blood pressure.)
The table below shows normal blood pressure numbers for adults. It also shows which numbers put you at greater risk for health problems.
Categories for Blood Pressure Levels in Adults (measured in millimeters of mercury, or mmHg)
|
Category
|
Systolic
(top number)
|
|
Diastolic
(bottom number)
|
|
Normal
|
Less than 120
|
And
|
Less than 80
|
|
Prehypertension
|
120–139
|
Or
|
80–89
|
|
High blood pressure
|
|
|
|
|
Stage 1
|
140–159
|
Or
|
90–99
|
|
Stage 2
|
160 or higher
|
Or
|
100 or higher
|