Hypertension - What is normal?

Let's start with how blood pressure is measured. The systolic pressure is measured as the heart beats, while diastolic pressure occurs when the heart is at rest, between beats. When these numbers are written, the systolic is placed on top with the diastolic on the bottom, such as 120/80. Both of these numbers are important.

The normal blood pressure reading is below 120/80. The normal reading stops being so around 90/60; if it gets lower than this, it may be an indicator of other problems. Prehypertension is a reading between 120 to 139 for the systolic or 80 to 89 for the diastolic pressure. Stage One hypertension has a systolic between 140 to 159 and a diastolic between 90 to 99. Stage Two hypertension is the most severe stage and is measured with a systolic higher than 160 and a diastolic higher than 100.

Only one of the numbers, systolic or diastolic needs to be higher to be classified as prehypertension or hypertension.