What is systolic and diastolic blood pressure ?
The systolic pressure is the force of the flow of blood as it travels inside and through the arterial pipe, while the diastolic pressure is the force exerted by the blood against (perpendicular to) the inner wall of the artery. What is the normal blood pressure? A systolic pressure of 100 to 140, over a diastolic pressure of 60 to 90 are the normal sets of figures. For instance, blood pressure of 100/60 to 140/90 is the range of normal. The diastolic pressure (the second figure) is most important in determining if a person has hypertension or not. If the systolic is higher than 140 and the diastolic pressure is higher than 90 on at least three separate office visits, then the diagnosis of hypertension applies. So, a blood pressure of 130/92, taken as described above, is considered hypertension (though mild). The older the patient is, the higher the diastolic pressure, and the higher the diastolic is, the more severe the hypertension is. How does one know if he/she has high blood pressu
