When it comes to our health, there are also numbers we must closely pay attention to, and one in particular we must keep a sharper eye on. We’re talking about blood pressure numbers; understanding your blood pressure reading can be the difference between life and death. You see, the numbers that show when we take our blood pressure reveal a lot about our health. Keeping your numbers in a healthy range will help you continue a long, joyful life. If you don’t quite understand the importance of those numbers, let us break down some facts with the help of age and gender wise blood pressure chart to give you a better idea.

What is blood pressure?

Blood pressure by name is simple – it refers to the amount of pressure put on your vessels as blood travels around your body. Your blood originates in your heart and gets pumped out to reach other vital organs and parts of your body.

Blood pressure can come in three forms: low, normal and high. Ideally, you want a normal blood pressure reading, but if it’s low or high it can have serious health consequences. Understanding blood pressure, though, goes a bit further than just recognizing its role in the body. To get a better understanding of blood pressure, you have to look at the numbers in the blood pressure chart.

Understanding blood pressure readings: diastolic and systolic

You may have heard such readings like 130/86 mmHg or 123/82 mmHg, but what does this really tell us? Blood pressure readings use two numbers: diastolic and systolic.

Diastolic is the bottom number; this number is always lower and tells us the pressure on the arteries between heart beats. This is the time when the heart refills with blood. Systolic is the top number which is always higher. It reveals the amount of pressure on the arteries while the heart beats.

The American Heart Association has created recommendations for blood pressure so you can stay healthy and avoid hypotension and hypertension. The following recommendations are:

Hypotension (too low): Lower than 90/60 mmHg
Normal: Lower than 120/80 mmHg
Prehypertension: 120/80 to 139/89 mmHg
Hypertension stage 1: 140/90 to 159/99 mmHg
Hypertension stage 2: Higher than 160/100 mmHg
Hypertension crisis: 180/110 mmHg – emergency personnel should be called
When it comes to importance, systolic pressure is more closely looked at because it is what can cause higher risks to your health, even more so with seniors.

What affects blood pressure?, Blood Pressure Chart and more @Source

Nice info op