Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of arteries. When the doctor measures your blood pressure, the results are given in two numbers. The first number, called systolic blood pressure, is the pressure caused by your heart pushing out blood. The second number, called diastolic blood pressure is the pressure when your heart fills with blood. The safest range, often called normal blood pressure, is a Systolic blood pressure of less than 120 and a diastolic blood pressure of less than 80. This is stated as 120/80. When your numbers are higher than 140/90, you are said to have “high blood pressure.” The medical name for high blood pressure is hypertension. You can have high blood pressure and still feel just fine. That’s because high blood pressure often does not cause signs of illness that you can see or feel. This is why high blood pressure is often referred to as “the silent killer.” According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 67 million America...
