Blood Pressure Facts and Myths: A Heart Health Consumer Guide

We have heard it all before, "High blood pressure causes heart disease."  The guidelines and treatments for high blood pressure (BP) have become so ingrained and commonplace that we take it for granted that it is being treated properly.  But, like most health issues today, what we know about blood pressure has changed leaving many cases undiagnosed or under-treated.  More importantly, our increased understanding of blood pressure has uncovered numerous natural treatment methods that are as powerful as many of the newest drug therapies.  Here are several facts and myths about blood pressure and its treatment that conscientious health consumers should know.

FACT: Blood pressure is a complex and constantly changing health measure.

Your BP is constantly changing from second to second as your heart pumps.  It is highest during heart contractions (known as systole) and lowest when the heart muscle relaxes (known as diastole).  This is why BP is measured by two numbers generally appearing as"120/80mmHG."  The first number is known as the systolic pressure (when the heart is in systole or contracted) and the second number is known as diastolic pressure (when the heart is in diastole or relaxed).  The units "mmHg" stands for "millimeters of mercury (Hg is the chemical symbol for mercury)."  For example, a systolic reading of 120mmHg means your BP can push a column of mercury 120mm into the air.  Yes, this is a completely arbitrary measure but since the entire world uses this standard it is an easy way to track and compare BP.

Your BP also changes from hour to hour being lowest when you are asleep and highest when you are awake.  Of course any physical activity from jogging to digesting food raises blood pressure as does stress and many other emotional challenges.  One common example is what is known "white coat hypertension."  This is caused by the anxiety you may feel at the doctor's office or in a hospital.  The problem is your doctor may dismiss a slightly elevated BP as simple white coat hypertension when the problem is something else.  Certain conditions and diseases, sleep deprivation, dehydration, and a host of other factors can affect BP.  The moral of the story is you cannot take just one BP reading to determine if your BP is high, low, or normal.

MYTH: Normal blood pressure is anything below 140/90 mmHg

The most recent National Health, Lung, and Blood Institute guidelines set systolic BP of less than 120mmHg and diastolic BP of less than 80mmHg (i.e. less than 120/80) as normal.  This is significantly different than the old standard of 140/90 your doctor may still be using. The new guidelines also introduce a new category called "pre-hypertension," meaning a systolic BP of 120 to139 and a diastolic BP of 80-89 that justify lifestyle modification to lower BP.

Furthermore, the National Health and Education Survey showed that a systolic BP of 115 or above is sufficient to generate damage to arteries and other organs and that for every 20 point rise in systolic BP and 10 point rise in diastolic BP doubles the risk of cardiovascular disease.