Recently, two leading heart organizations changed the definition of what it means to have high blood pressure. Because of this change, the number of Americans with high blood pressure jumped from 32 percent to 46 percent. Doctors at the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology now classify anyone with a blood pressure reading of 130 over 80 as having high blood pressure. Before, the cutoffs for high blood pressure had been a top number of 140 and a lower number of 90. Health experts at the website Science Daily say blood pressure is defined by two numbers. The top number, called systolic, represents the force with which your heart pumps blood into the blood vessels. The bottom, called diastolic, is a measure of the resistance to the blood flow in the body's blood vessels. The American Heart Association says the new guidelines are designed to help people take steps to control their blood pressure earlier.
What does resistance mean?
a force that slows down a moving object by going against the direction in which the object is moving
a type of medicine used to treat high blood pressure
another term for blood flowing through a body
a force that pushes one object against another object
According to health experts, how many numbers define blood pressure?
4
3
2
1
The top number, called systolic, represents the force with which your heart pumps blood into the blood vessels.
diagnosis
systolic
systemic
diastolic