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What Is Normal Blood Pressure?
While most people understand what high blood pressure is all about, do you know what your normal blood pressure reading should be? If you said not really, then you're not alone. Understanding normal blood pressure can be somewhat confusing to a lot of people. So, how do you know if you're blood pressure reading is normal or not? Here is some helpful information to answer your questions.
Blood pressure is a measurement of how hard your blood is pumping through your heart and your arteries. Of course, the lower the pressure, the better for your cardiovascular health.
All blood pressure readings have two numbers. The top, or first, reading is called the systolic reading. The second number is called the diastolic reading. The first number measures how much force your body has to make in order to pump blood out through your arteries. Then, the diastolic reading informs you of how much pressure is in your arteries between heartbeats, when your arteries are relaxing.
For an average adult, a normal blood pressure range is generally regarded to be 120/80. This is what the medical community considers to be the ideal reading.
The more important number between the two is the diastolic number. When you see it above 80 on a regular basis, you're most likely suffering from hypertension. While it is true that blood pressure readings can fluctuate frequently throughout the day and also while you are going through various activities and emotions, but when your reading are consistently above 120/80 during times of rest, you're considered to have hypertension.
Now, if your readings are at or above 150/95, you are considered to have high blood pressure and you need to see your doctor to begin getting it under control.
Keep in mind that even if you have hypertension, you may be able to get control of it with some simple changes to your diet and a little exercise.
Having a normal blood pressure is vital to staying healthy, that goes without saying. Having your blood pressure checked is as simple as going into a pharmacy at a Walgreens and checking it with their machine. It takes all of three minutes to do and it may just save your life.
All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active and do not edit the article in any way.
About the Author: Terry Edwards is the owner of High Blood Pressure A-Z, a site that provides great information on blood pressure. You can learn more about Normal Blood Pressure as well as much more information about blood pressure at http://www.HighBloodPressureA-z.com
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