
What can happen if high blood pressure is not treated? Causes of this type of high blood pressure include different medical problems (for example kidney or hormonal problems) or sometimes a medication you’re taking. Causes of this most common type of high blood pressure include aging and unhealthy habits like not getting enough exercise.
Primary (also called essential) high blood pressure. Your provider will diagnose you with one of two types of high blood pressure: What are the types of high blood pressure? The bottom number is the diastolic blood pressure, which measures the pressure on your blood vessels between beats when your heart is relaxing.įor example, a blood pressure of 110/70 is within the normal range, but a blood pressure of 135/85 is stage 1 (mild) hypertension, and so on (see table). The top number is the systolic blood pressure, which measures the pressure on the blood vessel walls when your heart beats or contracts. Your blood pressure reading has two numbers. High blood pressure is often called the “silent killer” because you may not be aware that anything is wrong, but the damage is still occurring within your body. When you have hypertension (high blood pressure), it means the pressure against the blood vessel walls in your body is consistently too high.
What is high blood pressure (hypertension)?īlood pressure is the measurement of the pressure or force of blood pushing against blood vessel walls. Learn ways to recognize high blood pressure and what you can do to manage it.