What Is High Blood Pressure?

Every time your heart beats (about 60 to 70 times a minute when you're resting), it pumps blood out through large blood vessels called arteries. Blood pressure is the force of that blood as it pushes against the walls of the arteries. Your blood pressure is at its highest when your heart beats and pushes the blood out—doctors call this the systolic pressure. When the heart is at rest between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is called diastolic pressure. Blood pressure is always given as two numbers: first the systolic and then the diastolic pressure.

Normal blood pressure ranges from below 130 to 140 systolic and below 85 to 90 diastolic. If your blood pressure is less than 140/90, then, it's normal. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is anything above 140/90. High blood pressure gets more serious as the numbers get higher. Your risk of heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease go up along with your blood pressure.

If your blood pressure is high, there are many lifestyle steps you can take to lower it, like losing weight, getting more exercise, avoiding salt, giving up cigarettes, and drinking less alcohol. If that doesn't help, or if your blood pressure stays high, your doctor may prescribe drugs to bring it down. Vitamins, minerals, and other supplements, along with diet and lifestyle can help you overcome high blood pressure problems.