What is systolic and diastolic pressure?
Your heart is like a pump. When your heart muscle contracts, blood flows from your heart out through your arteries, and the pressure increases. The pressure measured at this point is the higher number (systolic blood pressure). When the heart muscle relaxes, it begins to fill again with blood, and the pressure decreases. This is the lower reading (diastolic blood pressure). These two readings provide important information about the health of a person. Both readings are measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg).
