Basics about Blood Pressure Screening
A blood pressure screening measures how hard your heart is working. The result of a blood pressure screening is shown by two numbers. The top number is your systolic pressure and the bottom number is your diastolic pressure. A normal blood pressure is a reading at or below 120 over 80. You have high blood pressure or hypertension if your numbers are 140 over 90 or higher. Pre-hypertension means your blood pressure numbers are between 120 over 80 and 139 over 89. At this range you may be more likely to develop high blood pressure. You are at risk for high blood pressure if you are overweight, smoke, have a family history of high blood pressure, eat foods high in salt or do not exercise.
What You Can Do
Talk with your doctor about how often you should have your blood pressure checked. Blood pressure should be checked every two years in adults aged 18 and older and more often if medically necessary. You can make healthy lifestyle changes to lower or keep your blood pressure down by lowering the amount of salt you eat, losing weight and leading an active lifestyle.
