What do blood pressure numbers mean? What are normal blood pressure numbers? What is high blood pressure hypertension? What are the signs and symptoms of high blood pressure?
What causes high blood pressure? What problems does high blood pressure cause? What can I do to prevent or manage high blood pressure? Close You can manage your blood pressure to lower your risk for serious health problems that may affect your heart, brain, kidneys, and eyes.
Learn about conditions related to high blood pressure. Measure Your Blood Pressure. Prevent and Manage Your Blood Pressure. J Am Coll Cardiol. Top of Page. Get Email Updates. To receive email updates about this page, enter your email address: Email Address. What's this? The heart is a muscle that pumps blood around the body. Sometimes, a problem in the body makes it harder for the heart to pump the blood. This could happen, for example, if an artery becomes too narrow.
Persistent high blood pressure can put a strain on the walls of the arteries. This can lead to a variety of health problems, some of which can be life threatening.
Systolic pressure measures the pressure in the arteries as the heart contracts and is the top number on a blood pressure reading. Diastolic, which is the lower number, represents the blood pressure when the heart is resting between beats. What is a normal blood pressure?
Find out here. Hormonal factors mean that the risk of high blood pressure may be different in males and females. Factors that can increase the risk of high blood pressure in females include:. During pregnancy, high blood pressure can be a sign of preeclampsia , a potentially dangerous condition that can affect the woman and her unborn baby.
All women should follow the guidelines for screening and attend all health checks, especially during pregnancy. Teenagers can develop high blood pressure due to obesity or an underlying medical condition. Possible medical factors include :. High blood pressure can affect children. Having obesity and diabetes increases the risk, but it can also be a sign of:.
Newborns and very young babies can sometimes have high blood pressure due to an underlying health condition, such as kidney or heart disease. High blood pressure can occur when certain changes happen in the body or if a person is born with specific genetic features that cause a health condition.
It can affect people with:. Sometimes, there is no apparent cause. In this case, a doctor will diagnose primary hypertension. Consuming a high fat diet, carrying excess weight, drinking a lot of alcohol, smoking tobacco, and the use of some medications also increase the risk.
The doctor will recommend different treatments as blood pressure increases. For slightly high blood pressure, they may suggest making lifestyle changes and monitoring the blood pressure. If blood pressure is high, they will recommend medication. The options may change over time, according to how severe the hypertension is and whether complications arise, such as kidney disease.
Some people may need a combination of several different medications. Conventional drugs for treating high blood pressure include:. Angiotensin converting enzyme ACE inhibitors block the actions of some hormones that regulate blood pressure, such as angiotensin II. Angiotensin II causes the arteries to constrict and increases blood volume, resulting in increased blood pressure.
ACE inhibitors can reduce the blood supply to the kidneys, making them less effective. As a result, it is necessary for people taking ACE inhibitors to have regular blood tests. If the side effects are persistent or too unpleasant to manage, a doctor may prescribe an angiotensin II receptor antagonist instead. These alternative medications often cause fewer side effects, but they may include dizziness, headaches, and increased potassium levels in the blood.
Calcium channel blockers CCBs aim to decrease calcium levels in the blood vessels. This will relax the vascular smooth muscle, causing the muscle to contract less forcefully, the arteries to widen, and blood pressure to go down.
CCBs may not always be suitable for people with a history of heart disease, liver disease, or circulation issues. Learn more here about calcium channel blockers.
Thiazide diuretics help the kidneys get rid of sodium and water. This lowers blood volume and pressure. People taking thiazide diuretics should have regular blood and urine tests to monitor their blood sugar and potassium levels.
Beta-blockers were once popular for treating hypertension, but doctors only tend to prescribe them now when other treatments have not been successful. Beta-blockers slow the heart rate and reduce the force of the heartbeat, causing a drop in blood pressure. Beta-blockers are often the standard medication for a person with very high blood pressure, known as a hypertensive crisis.
The excessive pressure on your artery walls caused by high blood pressure can damage your blood vessels as well as your organs. The higher your blood pressure and the longer it goes uncontrolled, the greater the damage. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version.
Overview High blood pressure hypertension is a common condition in which the long-term force of the blood against your artery walls is high enough that it may eventually cause health problems, such as heart disease. More Information Pulse pressure: An indicator of heart health? Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. More Information Medications and supplements that can raise your blood pressure Anxiety: A cause of high blood pressure?
Blood pressure readings: Why higher at home? Blood pressure: Does it have a daily pattern? Caffeine and hypertension Can having vitamin D deficiency cause high blood pressure? Sleep deprivation: A cause of high blood pressure? Show more related information. More Information High blood pressure and sex High blood pressure dangers Hypertensive crisis: What are the symptoms?
Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references High blood pressure. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Accessed Dec. What is high blood pressure? American Heart Association. Hypertensive crisis: When you should call for high blood pressure. Hypertension in adults: Screening. Preventive Services Task Force. Thomas G, et al. Blood pressure measurement in the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in adults.
Blood pressure monitoring kiosks aren't for everyone. Food and Drug Administration. Basile J, et al. Overview of hypertension in adults. Know your risk factors for high blood pressure. Rethinking drinking: Alcohol and your health. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The more the plaque and damage increases, the narrower smaller the insides of the arteries become — raising blood pressure and starting a vicious circle that further harms your arteries, heart and the rest of your body.
This can ultimately lead to other conditions ranging from arrhythmia to heart attack and stroke. You may not feel that anything is wrong, but high blood pressure could be quietly causing damage that can threaten your health.
The best prevention is knowing your numbers and making changes that matter in order to prevent and manage high blood pressure. Written by American Heart Association editorial staff and reviewed by science and medicine advisers.
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