hypertension or high blood pressure isn't elevated blood pressure in the
blood vessels it's a major risk for heart disease and stroke
and that's why it's important for people to know what their blood pressure is
uh... know what it should be
and if it's not where it should be
to have a treated had to get it in a healthy range
so what are those numbers visit opera number and the lower number and the
units are millimeters of mercury because we used mercury in the old blood
pressure machines
um... the oper number is reflex the highest pressure in the blood vessels
win the heart is contracting
so it's when the hardest squeezing
the lower number is when the heart relaxing or fall
it might be referred to as a blood pressure of like one fifteen over
seventy five millimeters of mercury
an ideal or healthy blood pressure is one that's less than one twenty over
eighty
hypertension is defined as blood pressures consistently over
one forty over ninety so when opera number or systolic number is greater
than one forty and uh... and i start number raiders then uh... ninety
you can have isolated systolic hypertension where maybe the diastolic
number is normal but the opera number systolic number is elevated and that's
still considered paper tension and needs to be treated i think one of the most
important things that people need to know about high blood pressure it is a
silent killer
the vast majority of people with elevated blood pressures even severely
elevated blood pressures had no symptoms whatsoever
and their that's why reaching screen when people not go to their doctors
office uh...
and visit the nurse come to the firehouse
knowing that what they are blood pressure is or checking it at home
themselves it is important
now people with very high blood pressure um... in particularly if they ari have
some other type of heart disease may get symptoms in the symptoms of blood
pressure can be um... breathless miss uh... particularly exercise
and taking the uh... had eight
uh... they can be a feeling of fifteen k
but in general i think it's important for people to know that hypertension can
creep up and be present for years with no symptoms and that's why
detection with screening blood pressure measurement is important