Blood Pressure and You HCS 1080

What is blood pressure cont.? Blood pressure is a measure of the pressure or force of blood against the walls of your blood vessels (known as arteries). top number represents the pressure when your heart contracts and pushes blood out (systolic) and the bottom number is the lowest pressure when the heart relaxes between beats (diastolic)

What is blood pressure? Also called hypertension Affects 1 in 5 Canadians #1 reason for stroke – leading contributor for heart attacks The “silent killer” – no major symptoms If you know and can control your blood pressure – reduce chance of stroke by 40% and heart attack by 25%

Appropriate levels? Blood pressure that is consistently more than 140/90 mm Hg when measured in the doctor’s office or 135/85 mmHg when measured at home is considered high Normal blood pressure is between 120/80 mm Hg and 129/84 mm Hg –Standard atmospheric pressure One high reading does not necessarily mean you have high blood pressure

How does high blood pressure cause heart disease and stroke? Over time, high blood pressure can damage blood vessel walls, causing scarring that promotes the build-up of fatty plaque This build-up can narrow and eventually block arteries It also strains the heart and eventually weakens it. Very high blood pressure can cause blood vessels in the brain to burst resulting in a stroke.