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What is blood pressure?

Medicine & HealthLesson on requestFree to read

Quick answer

Blood pressure is the force your blood pushes against artery walls as your heart pumps. It's written as two numbers — systolic (heart beating) over diastolic (heart resting) — like 120/80. Sustained high pressure quietly damages your heart and vessels.

Key things to understand

  1. The force of blood against your artery walls.
  2. Written as systolic over diastolic, e.g. 120/80.
  3. Around 120/80 mmHg is considered normal.
  4. Chronic high pressure damages the heart silently.

People also ask

What do the two blood pressure numbers mean?
The top (systolic) is the pressure when your heart beats; the bottom (diastolic) is when it rests between beats.
What is a normal blood pressure?
Around 120/80 mmHg is normal; consistently 140/90 or higher is high (hypertension).
Why is high blood pressure called a silent killer?
It usually has no symptoms while it quietly strains your heart, arteries, kidneys, and brain over years.