Blood Pressure is the force of blood flow on the arteries and veins that carry blood through your body. High blood pressure ( hypertension) occurs when the force is too strong. Blood pressure is measured by an upper number and a lower number. You may see "mm Hg" written after the numbers. It means "millimeters of mercury". The top number of your blood pressure is the systolic pressure. This measure is the pressure in your blood vessels with each beat. The lower number is the diastolic pressure. This measure is the pressure in your blood vessels when your heart is resting between beats. High blood pressure makes your body work harder to get the blood it needs. This can lead to serious health problems such as heart disease, stroke, heart failure, and or kidney failure. Because high blood pressure often doesn't create symptoms that you can feel, it's important to check your blood pressure at every doctor's visit to make sure your blood pressure is at goal. Some causes of high blood pressure are being overweight, drinking too much alcohol, family history of high blood pressure, eating too much salt (sodium), and age.
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