Understanding Your Blood Pressure - Healthyroads
Understanding Your Blood Pressure
Your blood pressure is measured using a device or cuff. It is often measured at your doctor's office. It can also be measured at a pharmacy or at home. This worksheet will help you learn more about your blood pressure. It will also help you:
See what you can do to improve your blood pressure if needed Talk with your doctor about your blood pressure Keep track of your blood pressure readings
What Is Blood Pressure?
Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels as it is pumped out of your heart. It is affected by:
The amount of blood pumped by your heart, and How much resistance there is to blood flow in your arteries
Blood pressure is described using 2 numbers (for example, 120 over 80).
The first number is systolic pressure. This is the pressure on your artery walls when your heart beats. This pressure happens when your heart is pushing or pumping blood through your body.
The second number is diastolic pressure. This is the pressure on your artery walls between beats. This pressure happens when your heart rests and refills with blood.
What Is High Blood Pressure?
High blood pressure (also known as hypertension) occurs when your blood pressure readings are consistently higher than your goal range. Talk with your doctor about the right goal range for you based on factors such as your health status.
When you have high blood pressure, the pressure on the walls of your blood vessels is higher than it should be. This can cause your blood vessels to be less flexible. And this,
? American Specialty Health Incorporated (ASH). All rights reserved.
1
in turn, can raise your blood pressure even more. Having high blood pressure also means that your heart has to work harder to push blood through your blood vessels. Over time, this can raise your risk of heart disease.
High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease. There are some risk factors that are out of your control. These include your age, sex, and family history. But there are other factors that are within your control. These include:
What you eat How active you are How you deal with stress
If your blood pressure is high, your doctor will likely talk with you about making changes to your health habits. This might include changing what you eat or how active you are. It might involve quitting tobacco or limiting alcohol. For some people, these changes alone can bring blood pressure into a healthy range. For others, doctors may prescribe medicine to help control blood pressure.
Your Plan for Healthy Blood Pressure Levels
Here are some changes you can make to help lower your blood pressure. Be sure to talk with your doctor and get your blood pressure checked before changing your habits.
Choose healthy foods. Eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Eat less salt and high-fat foods. And take care with caffeine.
Limit alcohol. If you choose to drink alcohol, have no more than one drink per day for women or 2 drinks per day for men.
Maintain a healthy weight. If you are overweight, losing even a small percentage of your weight can boost your health and help lower your blood pressure.
Be active. Work up to getting 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity a week. Keep in mind it's best to start slowly. If you haven't been active in a while, start with just 10 minutes of activity most days of the week.
? American Specialty Health Incorporated (ASH). All rights reserved.
2
Build from there. When you are ready, you can build up to more. Starting slowly can make it easier to change your habits. It can also keep you safe. Be sure to talk with your doctor before you change how active you are.
Manage stress in healthy ways. Managing stress in healthy ways can help make your blood pressure easier to manage. Facing stressful situations can raise your blood pressure. And being under constant stress can make it hard to follow your healthy habits. Finding healthy ways to relieve stress can make it easier to take care of yourself.
Quit tobacco. This one change will have many health benefits. It can make it easier for you to manage your blood pressure.
The key thing to remember about blood pressure is that you have control over many of the things that can raise it. It's important to know that you can think and act in ways that improve your health. If your blood pressure is high, you can take steps to help lower it. You may get support from your doctors, nurses, and other health care providers. But in the end, making the changes to help lower your blood pressure is up to you. Your health is in your hands--and you can improve it.
Remember, making even small changes may help you move your blood pressure numbers to a more healthy level. Will you make changes to what you eat? Add more activity to your day? Most of the steps you can take are not big changes. They are small habits that you can work on changing over time.
Talking About Your Blood Pressure With Your Doctor
Take this worksheet with you when you visit your doctor. You can write your test results on this sheet, as well as anything else you and your doctor discuss. If you have a report from your recent biometric screening, be sure to take that with you as well.
Questions to Ask Your Doctor
What do my blood pressure results tell me? ______________________________________________________________________
? American Specialty Health Incorporated (ASH). All rights reserved.
3
______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________
What blood pressure range is right for me? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________
Should I have this test again? If so, when? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________
Do I need additional tests? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________
What changes can I make to help manage my blood pressure and improve my heart health? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________
What kind of treatment do I need? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________
My Action Plan
I have talked with my doctor about taking these steps to improve my blood pressure:
1. _______________________________________ 2. _______________________________________ 3. _______________________________________
? American Specialty Health Incorporated (ASH). All rights reserved.
4
My Blood Pressure Record
Use these charts to keep track of your blood pressure readings.
Date of test Systolic Pressure Diastolic Pressure
________________ ___________ ___________
Date of test Systolic Pressure Diastolic Pressure
________________ ___________ ___________
Date of test Systolic Pressure Diastolic Pressure
Date of test Systolic Pressure Diastolic Pressure
________________ ___________ ___________
Date of test Systolic Pressure Diastolic Pressure
________________ ___________ ___________
Date of test Systolic Pressure Diastolic Pressure
________________ ___________ ___________
________________ ___________ ___________
About High Blood Pressure Guidelines
Your blood pressure reading is one of the ways your doctor can tell if you are healthy. In late 2017, there was a change to the blood pressure numbers that not all medical experts agree on. For this reason, two sets of blood pressure ranges are in use by doctors. Healthyroads has decided to continue to use the blood pressure ranges developed by the Joint National Committee on Prevention. You can work with your doctor to know which numbers are right for you.
Take a look at the table below. If you fit into any category on the table that is not listed as "normal," be sure to talk with your doctor.
Category
Normal Pre-HTN/Elevated HTN - Stage 1 HTN - Stage 2 Critical
Blood Pressure Ranges
Healthyroads
Other Guidelines
Less than 120/80
Less than 120/80
Up to 139/89 Up to 159/99
Up to 129/80 Up to 139/89
160/100 and higher 140/90 and higher
180/110 and higher 180/120 and higher
? American Specialty Health Incorporated (ASH). All rights reserved.
5
Remember, one measure of blood pressure is not enough to know if your numbers are healthy. You need several readings at your doctor's office. This will help your doctor know if your blood pressure numbers are higher than they should be. It will also help your doctor decide if you need medicine for your blood pressure.
Visit your doctor soon to know your numbers.
This information is not intended to take the place of regular medical care or advice. Please check with your doctor before using this information or beginning any self-care program.
? American Specialty Health Incorporated (ASH). All rights reserved.
6
Credits
Primary Author: Sharon Odegaard Last Clinical Reviewer: Liz Hand, PT, DPT Last Review and Approval: Liz Hand, PT, DPT, 5/29/2020
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). High blood pressure. Retrieved from
Chobanian, A. V., Bakris, G. L., Black, H. R., Cushman, W. C., Green, L. A., Izzo, J.L., Jr., . . . National High Blood Pressure Education Program Coordinating Committee. (2003). Seventh report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. Hypertension, 42(6), 1206?1252. doi: 10.1161/01.HYP.0000107251.49515.c2
James, P. A., Oparil, S., Carter, B. L., Cushman, W. C., Dennison-Himmelfarb, C., Handler, J., . . . Ortiz, E. (2014). 2014 evidence-based guideline for the management of high blood pressure in adults: Report from the panel members appointed to the Eighth Joint National Committee (JNC 8). Journal of the American Medical Association, 311(5), 507-520. doi: 10.1001/jama.2013.284427
Whelton, P. K., Care, R. M., Aronow, W. S., Casey, D.E. Jr, Collins, K. J., Dennison Himmelfarb, C., . . . Wright, J. T., Jr. (2017). 2017 ACC/AHA/ AAPA/ABC/ACPM/AGS/APhA/ASH/ASPC/NMA/PCNA guideline for the prevention, detection, evaluation, and management of high blood pressure in adults: A report of the American College of Cardiology/ American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines. Hypertension, pii HYP.0000000000000065. doi: 10.1161/ HYP.0000000000000065
? American Specialty Health Incorporated (ASH). All rights reserved.
7
................
................
In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.
To fulfill the demand for quickly locating and searching documents.
It is intelligent file search solution for home and business.