High blood pressure has become somewhat of a buzzword around the health industry.

Doctors refer to it as “the silent killer” or other mysterious names. They say you should keep it below a specific number and if it’s not, they’ll overload you with dangerous medications.

But what is high blood pressure really?
And what are these blood pressure numbers all about?

For you to treat your blood pressure effectively, it’s very essential for you to understand exactly what it is.

In simple terms, blood pressure is the force of the blood on the walls of your arteries.

During every heartbeat, your heart pumps blood through the arteries to reach all organs. That’s when the pressure in your arteries is the highest and when we get the top blood pressure number referred to as ‘systolic pressure.’

Your heart is at rest between the heartbeats and the lowest blood pressure is recorded at this time, called ‘diastolic pressure.’

For instance, in a blood pressure reading of 120/80, 120 is the systolic pressure and 80 is the diastolic pressure.

Any blood pressure reading that is 120/80 or slightly lower is thought to be healthy.Readings over that up to129/89 is termed ‘prehypertension,’ and puts you at a higher risk for developing hypertension in the future. Already at a pre-hypertensive level, your risk of heart attack and stroke has risen drastically.

A reading of 140/90 or above is termed as high blood pressure or hypertension, and this requires treatment to bring it down closer to normal range. The reason is, high blood pressure can lead to several problems including damage to the heart, arteries kidneysand eyes, and often leads to stroke.

Recent studies have revealed that it’s actually normal or even beneficial for elderly people to have slightly higher blood pressure. So if you’re over 70 and your blood pressure is 130/90, most health professionals would say don’t worry about that.

A reading of 90/60 or lower is considered to be low blood pressure, or hypotension, and is also dangerous since it can lead to different complications.

Blood pressure should not be termed high or low based on a single reading; rather, only when it is consistently observed during multiple measurements. That’s why I recommend you get a home blood pressure monitor and take your BP 3-4 times a day around the same times every day, like morning, noon, and early evening or bedtime.

The key is to keep your blood pressure readings closer to normal levels to keep yourself healthy. Find out how you can achieve this with these three easy exercises…