A family friend recently died from a heart attack. He hadn't seen a doctor in years, but had seen a physician for flu symptoms about 10 days before he died. They took his blood pressure and told him the systolic was 280. He did not remember the diastolic. In restrospect, should a pressure that high have raised red flags for the physician? Should my friend have been hospitalized or referred to a specialist for immediate diagnosis and care?
I would think any competent physician, nurse, paramedic, etc... would have someone immediately hospitalized if they had a Systolic pressure of 280. Consider 'normal' is 120-125 and mild hypertension is only 20 points higher (140s).
Even at 180, they would have likely been given immediate access to medication or been directed to someone who could provide it for them.
I myself have gotten some high systolic pressures. on 7-8 occasions, my systolic was higher than 200.
One time my BP was 239/57, which is very odd. Extremely high systolic and very low diastolic. They call this "isolated systolic hypertension". I have been checking my blood pressure for the past 20 years.
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Thanks so much for your post. I am a moderator for this site and though not medically trained, I will try to help you get answerst to your questions.
I am really not able to speak directly to your question. I can however suggest you read The Basics of High Blood Pressure. Then take a look at our Management section.
All the best, sue