What Is The Best Way To Define High Blood Pressure? - By: Don Saunders

One problem with high blood pressure these days is that it is so common and so frequently talked about that most people do not afford it the respect it deserves. The fact is that high blood pressure, or hypertension, is a killer disease and should be treated as such.

Thousands of doctors and scientists have spent a great deal of money, time and effort attempting to describe exactly what a true definition of hypertension is.

There have been a large number of studies performed on this topic which have given the doctors and scientists a wide range of blood pressure values to work with. However the results are usually skewed and vary from one country to the next and even from district to district within a given country. Thus, it has been agreed that the true definition of hypertension can only be found through constant observation and experimentation.

Normal blood pressure is seen today much like normal body weight in the sense that the defining level is that which is seen as providing the greatest predicted life expectancy. This is the pressure at which the heart together with other important parts of the body like the circulatory system can function under optimum conditions without running the risk of heart disease and other related disorders.

There are some other considerations to be taken into account when defining high blood pressure and some of these have to be excluded. For instance, If a healthy individual gets their systolic (or pumping) blood pressure will rise by possibly as much as fifty percent as their blood flow increases in response to emotional excitement or any type of energetic activity. But it does not remain high for long and once the level of excitement has gone down your blood pressure also returns to its normal level.

In addition to a systolic (pumping) blood pressure you also have a diastolic (resting) blood pressure which is the more important and is an excellent guide in ascertaining whether a high reading is a false positive. Diastolic pressure is important because it reflects the state of your arteries and if you have a high reading it may show that your arteries are narrowed and not permitting a free flow of blood as they should be.

It is very important to know that hypertension is not a disease in itself but is a key criterion by which doctors can predict other illnesses.

Finally, it is also necessary to realize that high blood pressure cannot be cured although it can be very effectively controlled.

About the Author

TheBloodPressureCenter.com provides information on many different aspects of blood pressure including what causes high blood pressure and sourcing the best home blood pressure monitors

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