|
Monday, 20 July 2009 15:34 |
 AddThis Social Bookmark Button
High Blood Pressure is by diagnosis of your blood pressure tests. Tests will be performed many times to ensure that your results are correct. Normally, if you results are high, your doctor may ask you to come back for more tests to confirm the results of your blood pressure over time.
If these results are confirmed as 140/90 or higher, you will be diagnosed with high blood pressure (hypertension). However, if you have existing conditions like diabetes or chronic kidney disease, a blood pressure of 130/80 mmHg or higher is considered hypertension.
Usually, hypertension is diagnosed while a person is seeing a doctor for some other unrelated condition.
If high blood pressure is diagnosed, treatment will be needed. Your doctor will monitor your progress and if your blood pressure appears to be under control then you will be instructed to stay on that treatment The earlier you find out about high blood pressure, the better chance you will have to avoid other related health conditions such as heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure.
How high does blood pressure have to be before it's considered too high??That depends a lot on a person's age. The National Heart Foundation of Australia recommends that people under the age of 65 years should have a blood pressure no higher than 130/85 mm Hg. Those over 65 years of age should have a blood pressure reading of no more than 140/90 mm Hg.??
A person's blood pressure fluctuates during the day, so doctors don't diagnose hypertension on the basis of one abnormal reading. Usually only when there are three consecutive abnormally high readings – taken on different occasions, when a person is resting – is a diagnosis of hypertension made. If the blood pressure is found to be consistently high, a doctor will do a physical examination and other tests to see if there is any underlying disease causing the hypertension, and also to look for signs of damage to the body's organs.
|
Hypertension Overview 
