What blood pressure is normal?

In today’s hectic life where everyone has a swamping life schedule, high blood pressure is a common problem, irrespective of any individual’s age or body weight. There are numerous lifestyle factors that contribute to the rise in number of blood pressure patients around the world. A large percentage of this attributes to young adults. Most of the present day young adults work in the corporate world, filled with never ending stress and sedentary lifestyle further leading to blood pressure problems.
Before we discuss about the various causes and consequences or the normal range, it is important to know what blood pressure is. We will also discuss about the normal blood pressure and what blood pressure is high. This article also explains normal blood pressure for men as well as women and normal blood pressure by age.

What is Blood Pressure?

To define blood pressure, it is the pressure asserted by the blood over the arteries from within. It is created by the contraction of muscles of the heart. Arteries perform the function of transporting blood from heart to other body parts. Even though the average blood pressure for any person is usually constant, there might be minor fluctuations through the day, depending upon your work routine stress, your lifestyle, what you eat during the day, and the level of workout done by you.
Normally, blood pressure is cataloged into five main categories, viz.
•    Normal
•    Elevated
•    Hypertension Stage I
•    Hypertension Stage II
•    Hypertensive Crisis

The Blood Pressure Numbers

You must be aware that two numbers are used to measure the blood pressure. The first one is referred as the systolic blood pressure. ‘Systolic’, Latin word meaning ‘contraction’, measures the pressure in the arteries with heart beats. The second one is referred to as diastolic blood pressure. ‘Diastolic’ is also a Latin word, meaning ‘dilate’. It is the lowest pressure asserted by blood on the blood vessels. This number measures the pressure asserted by arteries when the heart rests between two beats. The Unit for blood pressure is mmHg. For example, if the measurement reads 140 systolic and 100 diastolic, it would be written as “140 over 100” or “140/100mmHg”. The normal blood pressure for a healthy individual is less than or equal to 120/680 mmHg

What Blood Pressure is high?

High blood pressure, or hypertension, refers to a blood pressure level more than the normal reading, i.e. 120/80mmHg. Depending upon your activities and daily routine, your blood pressure may rise up or go down. Having consistently high measures of blood pressure may result in diagnosis of hypertension or high blood pressure.
Every doctor or health professional may refer to different guidelines to diagnose an individual for high blood pressure. For example, some doctors diagnose high blood pressure if the individual’s blood pressure measure consistently stays on or over 140/90 mmHg. On the other hand, a few others consider 130/80 mmHg as normal blood pressure.

Normal blood Pressure for Men

The average blood pressure range for men differs by age group. For adult males aged between 31 and 35, the normal BP range is 115/75. On the contrary, the normal blood pressure by age for age group 61-65 years is 145/78 mmHg.

Normal Blood Pressure for Women

Just like men, the normal BP range for women also varies depending upon their age. The normal blood pressure reading for age group 21-25 is 115.5/70.5 mmHg. On the contrary, the normal blood pressure by age for adult women ranges between 110.5/72.5 mmHg. Furthermore, the normal BP reading for women under age group 56-60 132.5/78.5 mmHg.

High Blood Pressure Signs and Symptoms

High blood pressure may not have any specific symptoms. For the same reason, hypertension is also widely known as a “silent killer”. Being a hypertension patient for long time can be a cause for multiple health issues. These include kidney diseases, heart attack, and stroke. A sudden shoot up in blood pressure may leave the patient paralyzed.
Some common symptoms of high blood pressure are:
•    Dizziness
•    Frequent headache
•    Breathlessness
•    Nausea
•    Palpitations in the head or neck
•    Blurred vision

Causes of High Blood Pressure

There is no specific list of causes for high blood pressure. It occurs from a combination of various factors, such as:
•    Obesity or overweight
•    Smoking
•    Old Age
•    Excessive intake of salt
•    Sedentary Lifestyle
•    Sleep Apnea
•    Genetics
•    Excessive alcohol consumption
•    Persistent kidney disease
•    Stress
•    Thyroid and Adrenal Disorders

Tips to Prevent High Blood Pressure

Looking at the causes of high blood pressure, here are a few tips to prevent high blood pressure.
•    Make it a point to have a balanced diet with ample amount of vegetables and fruits included in it.
•    Try to manage stress. You can do this through regular meditation.
•    Try to maintain healthy body weight. You can consult a health nutritionist for weight management.
•    Reduce intake of salt and sodium in your diet.
•    Make sure to engage yourself in regular physical activity. This can include simple brisk walk, for half an hour, four days a week.
•    Cut down on alcohol. Try to reduce consumption of alcohol. For men, the moderate count is not more than two alcoholic beverages. However, for men and women with lesser body weight, it should not be more than one drink a day.
•    Cut down on caffeine.

Prolonged exposure to high blood pressure can cause serious damage to the arteries. Constant and untreated high blood pressure makes them less elastic thus reducing the blood flow and thereafter oxygen reaching the heart. This further leads to heart diseases. Adding further, reduced blood flow towards the heart can also lead to health issues like:
•    Angina, usually called chest pain
•    If you leave your high BP untreated for long, you are making yourself susceptible to heart attack. This is because with high blood pressure, the blood flow to your heart reduces. The longer the blockage of blood flow, the greater is the damage to the heart.
•    Another serious health concern resulting from high blood pressure is Heart Failure. This is a health condition which indicates that the heart is not capable of pumping sufficient blood and oxygen to other body organs.

Looking at all this, it is important to follow a lifestyle that prevents the conditions of high blood pressure. However, if you still suspects presence of hypertension, take it seriously and don’t leave it untreated. Regular monitoring helps to keep the blood pressure under check.

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