Hypertension

Hypertension is the medical term for elevated blood pressure. Blood pressure is generated by the amount and flow of blood pumped through your body by the heart. It depends on the resistance to blood flow in the blood vessels. In individuals with narrower blood vessels, a greater pressure is needed to pump the same amount of blood throughout the body. Blood pressure readings consist of two numbers, the systolic blood pressure (SBP) and the diastolic blood pressure (DBP) that are measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). According to recent guidelines, a blood pressure greater than 140 mm Hg systolic or greater than 90 mm Hg diastolic warrants treatment.

Owing to biologic and physiologic variation in blood pleasure measurements as well as situational stressors, typically hypertension ...