Blood Pressure Chart

When blood pumps out of your heart, it puts a force on the walls of your arteries. This force is what makes up your blood pressure.

When we're healthy, our arteries stretch to allow blood to pass through them more easily. Your blood pressure changes throughout the day, depending on your posture, level of activity, wakefulness, and stress.

How to Read Blood Pressure Numbers
Blood pressure is measured in two numbers, one "over" the other. The first number is the pressure when your heart beats. The second number is when your heart is at rest between beats.

This is read as "120 over 80"

High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)
If blood pressure stays elevated over time, it is called high blood pressure. It increases your chances of having a:

    heart attack
    heart failure
    stroke
    kidney disease
    other life threatening illnesses

What Can You DO?

    Lose excess weight
    Reduce sodium
    Limit alcohol
    Increase physical activity
    Quit tobacco
    Reduce stress
    Limit caffeine
    Adopt DASH diet

http://www.mainecardiohealth.org/blood_pressure.html