The percentage of Americans with high blood pressure jumped from about 30% to almost 50%, based on recently updated blood pressure guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association.

Doctors now use 120/80 as the new threshold for normal blood pressure — dropping from 140/90.

Understand your blood pressure.

High blood pressure can be a silent killer. Left unchecked, it leads to heart disease, which can cause heart attack or stroke. Under the new guidelines, your blood pressure will be categorized as:

normal bpelevated bpstage 1 bpstage2 bpcrisis bp 

Track your numbers.

Doctors recommend patients test and record their blood pressure at home, where they’re more relaxed, using their own blood pressure cuffs. To correctly test yourself:
  • Stop smoking, drinking caffeine or exercising 30 minutes before measuring your blood pressure
  • Be at rest at least 5 minutes before measuring
  • Take 2 or 3 readings at the same time

 

man with heart rate on phone

Younger people will be diagnosed with high blood pressure earlier.

Healthy people younger than 50 whose top blood pressure numbers have hovered around 130, now will be diagnosed with hypertension. In addition to helping prevent heart attack and stroke, earlier diagnosis and intervention also could help prevent:
  • Heart failure
  • Kidney damage
  • Vision loss

Time for lifestyle changes.

Many people can reduce their blood pressure by making simple changes. You can achieve a 10-point drop in blood pressure with:
  • A low-fat, low-salt diet
  • 30 minutes of brisk walking, 6 to 7 days a week
  • 200 minutes a week of the equivalent of brisk walking

Dedicating 30 minutes a day to your health is worth the investment. Besides, if you can lower your blood pressure without medication, why not give diet and exercise a try?
Ideally, we want to help patients as early as possible who are identified as being at risk for heart disease. When you get young, healthy patients at the right, exact time, they need to take control. They can modify their behavior.
– Paul Y. Cunningham, MD, chairman of Cardiology Department Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital

Medications work.

If lifestyle modifications don’t lower your blood pressure, a doctor likely can prescribe medications that will help.