Blood pressure is the force of blood against the walls of arteries during circulation. When blood pressure stays elevate over time, then it is considering as high blood pressure, hypertension, or hypertensive.
The prevalence of high blood pressure increases progressively with age. Results from the Framingham study shows in middle-aged and elderly persons, the residual lifetime risk of developing hypertension is 90%.
High blood pressure overview
Both numbers in a blood pressure test are important, but for people who are 50 or older, systolic blood pressure gives the most accurate diagnosis of hypertension. Systolic is the top number in a blood pressure reading. It is considering as high if it is 140 mmHg or above.
Globally, hypertension is a greater concern; with blood pressure causing deaths accounts for 13.5%.
Stages of Hypertension
Healthcare professional classified blood pressure into six categories; they are optimal, normal, prehypertension (mild), stage 1 (moderate), stage 2 (severe), and stage 3 (critical).
Additionally, there are three more categories; they are stage 1 isolated systolic hypertension, stage 2 isolated systolic hypertension, and resistant hypertension.
Eight blood pressure categories are as below (in mmHg):
- Optimal BP – Below 120 (SBP) & 80 (DBP). Most favorable BP range.
- Normal BP – Below 130 (SBP) & 85 (DBP). BP of healthy individuals.
- Prehypertension – Within 130 to 139 (SBP) & 85 to 89 (DBP).
- Grade 1 HTN – 140 to 159 (SBP) & 90 to 99 (DBP). Stage 1 hypertension
- Grade 2 HTN – 160 to 179 (SBP) & 100 to 109 (DBP). Stage 2 hypertension
- Grade 3 HTN – Above 180 (SBP) & 110 (SBP). Stage 3 hypertension
- Isolated systolic HTN (grade 1) – SBP within 140 to 159 & DBP below 90.
- Isolated systolic HTN (grade 2) – SBP above 160 & DBP below 90.
There are 4 stages of hypertensions; high normal or prehypertension, mild or stage 1 HTN, moderate or stage 2 HTN, and severe or stage 3 HTN.
Additionally, there is two more stage of systolic hypertension, they are stage 1 isolated systolic HTN, and stage 2 isolated systolic HTN.
Prehypertension
If the blood pressure stays between 120/80 mmHg to 139/89 mmHg, then you cannot diagnose as hypertension and consider as pre-hypertension. Means it is not a high blood pressure but most likely to develop in the future. You can prevent high blood pressure by adopting a healthy lifestyle.
Stage-1 hypertension - A mildly elevated blood pressure, a BP number between 140/90 to 159/99 mmHg is considering as stage-1 hypertension. It is an early form of high blood pressure considering as mild and need medical treatment with BP monitoring on every doctor’s visit.
Stage-2 hypertension – A moderately elevated blood pressure, a BP number between 160/100 to 179/109 mmHg is considering as stage-2 hypertension. It is the second stage of hypertension considering as moderate and needs immediate medical treatment with frequent monitoring.
Stage-3 hypertension – A severely elevated blood pressure, a BP number over 180/110 mmHg is considering as stage-3 hypertension. It is the third stage of hypertension considering as severe and needs urgent stringent medical treatment with more frequent monitoring to avoid any hypertension complication.
Isolated systolic hypertension
Isolated systolic hypertension is an elevation only in the systolic number of your blood pressure (the top number). Diastolic number (the bottom number) remains normal or slightly elevated.
Stage-1 isolated systolic hypertension - A mildly elevated systolic BP number between 140 to 159 mmHg, but the diastolic BP number stay lower than 90 mmHg is considering as stage-1 isolated systolic hypertension. It requires medical treatment with blood pressure monitoring on every doctor’s visit.
Stage-2 isolated systolic hypertension - A moderately elevated systolic BP number over 160 mmHg, but the diastolic BP number stay lower than 90 mmHg is considering as stage-2 isolated systolic hypertension. It requires immediate medical treatment with frequent blood pressure monitoring to avoid hypertension complications.
Resistant Hypertension
A patient is considering having resistant hypertension when his or her blood pressure is not controllable despite treatment with an optimal dose of three antihypertensive drugs of different classes with one of the agents being a diuretic.