High blood pressure!!!?

Question

I've been told for the last 6 months that mine is high but I don't really know what the numbers mean... I've been told to take it 3 to 4 times a week. I just took and it's the highest it's ever been... 158/106 and Pulse is 103... I don't know what these numbers mean!!! Please help me out!!! I have an automatic blood pressure machine!!! Am I hurtin' or what????? I don't know what to look for??? please help!!!!!!!

Answer 1

The top # is known as the systolic pressure which is a measure of pressure leaving the heart. The bottom # is the diastolic pressure, the pressure of the blood returning to the heart. If either # is high, you have hypertension. Normal BP is 120/70. Pulse is how many times your heart beats in a minute. Resting pulse can be anywhere between 55 and 85 beats per minute avg.
What you want to do is take your pressure reading at the same time of day every day for 2 weeks. That will give the best indication of actual hypertension as opposed to a 'spike' due to other factors.
If you find that it is consistently high over that 2 week period, you'll need to see a Dr. and get advice on bringing it down. Diet, exercise and/or drugs may be needed. Untreated hypertension reeks havoc on your body over time so you'll want to take steps to get it down ASAP.
Hope that helps.

Answer 2

Wow that reading is high , but I'm not sure of the accuracy of your "device" . It's better to get it measured by a medical worker each time , or train someone in your household to do it with a stethoscope and sphygmomanometer (standard method) .
Another problem is the high pulse rate . Were you relaxed at the time you took the readings ? You need to be completely relaxed for the measurements to be valid . If you WERE relaxed , then you should ask your doctor to do a ECG to find out why your pulse rate is so high at rest .

Anyway , there is no SINGLE normal reading . Normal blood pressure is seen in a RANGE from 90/60 up to 140/80 .

Below 90/60 is LOW BP .
Above 140/80 is HIGH BP .

If you have any more readings like that , and especially if you have RISK FACTORS , then you should begin treatment RIGHT AWAY .

Risk factors include :
Family history of heart disease .
Smoking .
Diabetes .
Obesity and high blood fats .

EDIT
I'm not sure whether you need to know this , but the upper number is called "SYSTOLIC" pressure and it is the pressure in your blood vessels when the heart is CONTRACTING .
The lower one is called "DIASTOLIC" and it corresponds to pressure in your vessels when the heart is relaxing .
Both are significant , but to have high systolic BP is somewhat more dangerous than only diastolic high BP .

High blood pressure usually has no symptoms except when it is very high .
The problem in high BP is the slow effect of it on body organs :
the heart : enlarges with time and becomes weak
the brain : bleeding might occur or stroke
the kidneys : kidney failure
the blood vessels : become rigid , especially when there is a concurrent fat problem .

This chronic effect is difficult to detect until it is to late . That is why it is important to have BP measured , because we ourselves can have no clue whether it is high or low , we cannot FEEL it .