The pressure exerted by the circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels is known as blood pressure.  When used with no specification it refers to the pressure of the blood in the large arteries.

You have seen doctors measuring blood pressure and noting town as two numbers like 120/80.  The top number 120 refers to the pressure felt in the arteries when your heart muscle contracts. This is called systolic pressure.  When your heart is in rest between two consecutive beats, the blood pressure experienced is known as diastolic pressure and this denotes the lowest number in the blood pressure reading. In the above case 80 refers to the low blood pressure level or the diastolic pressure.

Prehypertension

If your blood pressure reading shows corresponding figures higher than 120/80 then you are having prehypertension. In simple terms if your high blood pressure level is between 120 and 139 then you are having prehypertension. Similarly if your low blood pressure reading is between 80 and 89 then also you are having prehypertension. This means you have moved out of the normal range and it has every possibility of moving into the ranges of hyper tension and has a good chance of creating risks of heart disease and stroke. AT this stage no medications are necessary.

Hyper tension stage 1

When your high blood pressure range reaches between 140 and 159 and low ranges are between 90 and 99, you have reached the stage 1 hypertension. But doctors opine that if only one of the above reading are in the critical level, that patient need not be considered as at hyper tension stage 1. But this case also will be considered as hyper tension stage 1, if the higher value of one of the figures remains constant for a considerable period of time. Similarly if you are above sixty and have not undergone stroke or heart problems even once, then also no treatment will be needed even if your blood pressure level reaches 150/90 at times.

Hyper tension stage 2

When your blood pressure ranges reaches a top value above 160 or when your bottom level reaches above 100, you are considered as in the hyper tension stage 2. At this stage medications are necessary for keeping your blood pressure controlled. Not only medications, life style changes and regular exercises will be required at this stage for keeping yourself out of danger zone.

Danger zone

A blood pressure level between 180/110 is considered as a serious problem and the patient is then in the danger zone. Urgent treatment from a specialized and experienced doctor is very essential at this stage.