Your heart is your blood pumping epicenter, with every beat sending blood to all the vital parts of your body along a network of arteries, capillaries, and veins. And as your blood flows through those arterial passageways, it presses against the arterial walls with different degrees of strength. And the strength of that pressure at any given point in time is known as your blood pressure, or “BP”.

Each time your heart squeezes & moves blood through your body, your blood pressure goes up, a number known in blood pressure readings as your “systolic” pressure. Then, as your heart relaxes following each contraction, your blood pressure goes down, and that’s known as your “diastolic” pressure. Those two numbers together, with systolic over diastolic, are known as your blood pressure score. And according to the American Heart Association, a normal BP reflects a systolic pressure between 90 & 120 over a diastolic pressure between 60 & 80.

Some healthcare providers may check your blood pressure with something called a “sphygmomanometer”, which is an inflatable rubber cuff that’s attached to a manual air pump. When using a sphygmomanometer, the cuff will be inflated with air around your arm to temporarily cut off blood flow, before being released to let the blood start flowing again, with the doctor noting the two key numbers (systolic/diastolic) along the way. But nowadays, automatic blood pressure cuffs are actually recommended, since they rely on a different methodology & are considered to be more accurate. While manual cuffs rely on auscultation, where the doctor listens for the key pressure readings via stethoscope, automatic blood pressure cuffs are what’s called “oscillometric”: when blood passes under the cuff, your arm increases slightly in circumference, and the automatic cuff will measure the amplitude of those oscillations at continuous intervals to get your blood pressure reading.

If you’re told you have “hypertension” (a BP of around 130/80 or higher), what that means is your heart’s working overly hard to pump blood throughout your body. And that can be dangerous. And while there are different stages of hypertension, if your BP hits 180/120, that’s what’s considered to be “hypertensive crisis”, meaning you should seek medical intervention as soon as possible. Now, BP can temporarily go up because of stress, pregnancy, or even some common medications (like antidepressants & even OTC pain relievers). And one high reading doesn’t necessarily mean you’re hypertensive. But it’s always a good idea to stay vigilant, since high BP can be a side effect of other diseases (diabetes) & can frequently be a precursor to heart disease or a heart attack. If you are, or become, hypertensive, then your doctor will most likely recommend that you make changes to your diet & your exercise regimen, while also possibly prescribing medication.

Regardless, your blood pressure is something that you’ve always had & will always have. So, as you age (since we’re all getting older, no matter how much we don’t like it or try to fight it), the best thing you can do for yourself is to monitor your BP & do all that you can to keep it in check.

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