If suspect that you or someone you love might have high blood pressure, you may be feeling anxious and nervous. It can be a serious condition, but with a little bit of basic knowledge about it, you can begin to feel more comfortable and make a clear decision as to what you would like to do about it.

When thinking about this condition, which is also called hypertension, it is important to know a little bit about blood pressure. Your heart pumps your blood through your body at powerful rate, but when the pressure that is used to power the blood is too strong, this results in high blood pressure.

When you suffer from hypertension, it means that your heart and your arteries need to work harder. Over an extended period of time, hypertension greatly increases the chance of a heart attack, a stroke, kidney problems or one of a number of other issues.

Any medical professional can diagnose this disease. Usually, an inflatable cuff will be placed around your arm and the flow of your blood will be measured with a meter.

To better understand the reading that you are given, it is important to know that normal pressure of your blood is 120/80. What this means is that your blood pressure measures at 120 mmHg during a heart beat and 80 mmHG when your heart is at rest. A constant reading that comes out at 140/90 or above is considered indicative of high blood pressure.

If you have hypertension, you are certainly not alone! Almost one third of all Americans suffer from it and most of them don't know it. Because this condition has no symptoms, it may not be discovered until the damage is done, that is, until heart disease, strokes and kidney failures.

This is the reason that appointments for checkups should be made yearly; every normal checkup will include a blood pressure reading and this can prevent serious problems further down the line. If identified early on, high blood pressure can be treated with a change in lifestyle, or with medication.

If high blood pressure runs in your family, it will definitely be worth your time to take steps to prevent it from happening to you. Maintaining a healthy weight and living an active lifestyle are both ways that you can prevent hypertension, as is having a healthy diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, and low sodium foods. Having a low alcohol intake is linked to having healthy blood pressure, as is a diet that features low-fat dairy products.

Hypertension can be a difficult thing to deal with, but once you have some information on the issue, you can make reasoned decisions on the choices in front of you.