High blood pressure

High blood pressure: What you need to know

Are you one of approximately 7 million Canadians diagnosed with high blood pressure? Here's what you should know

Hypertension occurs when arterioles—the small thin-walled branches of an artery—become stiff and inflexible, and cause hypertension by increasing resistance to the blood flow. High blood pressure in turn damages artery walls, making them more vulnerable to plaque buildup. It also weakens and enlarges the heart.

Who's at risk for high blood pressure?

Genetics may account for 30 percent of cases of hypertension. For the rest of us, it's a combination of higher-than-normal fluid content in the bloodstream, often due to an excessively salty diet plus narrower, stiffer arteries—the result of atherosclerosis, inactivity, overweight, chronic stress and/or diabetes.

What to know

New guidelines: Optimal blood pressure is below 120/80.

Damage and death risk rise sooner than expected: Evidence from 61 blood pressure studies suggests that risks of fatal heart disease and stroke may begin when blood pressure is as low as 115/75. Risk doubles with each 20-point rise in the first number in a reading (systolic pressure) and each 10-point rise in the second number, diastolic pressure.

Detecting high blood pressure

Digital blood pressure monitors are gradually replacing the most widely used method of checking blood pressure, in which a doctor or nurse straps a black cuff to your arm, applies a stethoscope, pumps up the cuff until it cuts of blood flow, and measures the results as pressure is released. (Home blood pressure devices are fine for daily monitoring, but you should also have supplementary checks at your doctor's office, where the equipment is properly calibrated and the results are recorded.) High blood pressure usually has no symptoms that you can feel or see.

Standard medical care

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• High Blood Pressure and Hypertension
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About 7 million Canadians have been diagnosed with high blood pressure. Many take medications to improve it. The most popular are diuretics (or "water pills"), which reduce the amount of fluid in the bloodstream. There are several classes of artery-relaxing drugs that are also widely prescribed, including alpha and beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers and calcium channel blockers.

Viability of self-treatment

Very helpful for most people, dietary changes can act as a natural diuretic, lowering blood pressure as effectively as some medications. Meditation, exercise, losing weight and stopping smoking can also help.

What the numbers mean

Blood pressure measures the force of blood against artery walls while the heart is contracting at full force and while it's resting between beats. You can have your blood pressure checked regularly by a doctor or nurse. If you want to learn about measuring it at home, visit the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

Blood Pressure (mm Hg)
• Below 120/80 = Optimal
• 120-129/80-85 = Normal
• 130-139/85-89 = High-normal
• 140-59/90-99 = Mild hypertension
• 160-179/100-109 = Moderate hypertension
• 160/110 and above = Severe hypertension