High blood pressure, which is also known professionally as hypertension, is a state where the pressure of the blood flowing through your arteries is significantly higher than standard. Most medical professionals will state that the starting point for people more than eighteen years of age is 120/80. However, there are factors that could render those numbers not normal. Age is one of them.
The first figure is the systolic arterial blood pressure, which means that it is the pressure read when your heart contracts, beats or pumps out blood. The second number is while the heart sucks in blood, in order to pump it out again.
These figures are given in millimetres of mercury and are stated as mmHg. Elevated readings of either of these figures can be a sign of a problem. One thing to make clear here is that it is impossible to deduce or estimate the pressure of your blood without using either a sphygmomanometer ( the one your doctor uses in the surgery), which is the gold standard for blood pressure monitoring devices or a home blood monitoring machine.
Arterial pressure can become affected by many things such as: time of the day, age, weight, height, mood, fitness, diet, degree of activity and stress, which may or may not be part of ‘white coat syndrome’ amongst others. ‘White coat syndrome’ is the worry felt by some people when they have to be examined by a physician. This applies to children more than to any other age grouping.
Arterial pressure also varies during the day, so in order to acquire an accurate reading, it is necessary to take a number of them all at the same time of day. It is also prudent to wait 45 minutes after drinking caffeine or ten minutes after arriving before taking a reading.
So, what is standard? The real answer, although it is maddening, is that only a medical doctor can tell you, however for an adult, they say that it is 120/80, for an adolescent it is 110/70 and for an infant it is 80/45.
However, whilst measuring and evaluating the blood pressure of adolescents, you have to remember that age, sex and height matter. Therefore, an adolescent is said to have high blood pressure if the blood pressure is over that of ninety percent of individuals of his/her age, gender and height.
The causes of hypertension are classified as primary or secondary. Primary means that it is all your body’s fault and secondary means that the cause is something else, say, medication. Hypertension can also be the result of race or other hereditary reasons. Males of African ancestry are particularly at danger.
One of the items you can buy to keep you informed about your family’s blood pressure problems is a home blood pressure monitor. These devices are quite cheap and are very accurate, so buy an automatic digital monitor and take it to your physician to make sure that it is accurate and get the readings that are applicable to all the members of your family.
