Heart Disease and Hypertension

Blood pressure is a measurement of the force your blood exerts on the artery walls. Your heart pumps blood into the arteries with each heartbeat. While your heart beats and pumps blood, your blood pressure will be at its highest. The term for this is systolic pressure. Your blood pressure decreases when your heart is at rest, in between beats. The term for this is diastolic pressure.

These two factors are used to estimate your blood pressure. The systolic reading typically comes before or above the diastolic reading. As an illustration, 120/80 denotes a 120 systolic and an 80 diastolic.

In most cases, high blood pressure is symptomless. Therefore, the only method to determine if you have it is to get your blood pressure frequently checked by a medical professional. A gauge, stethoscope, electronic sensor, and blood pressure cuff will be used by your healthcare professional. Before reaching a diagnosis, he or she will take two or more readings at various appointments.