Blood pressure is called "hypertension" in the medical world. When your blood pressure is consistently above the ideal 120/80, you are generally considered "hypertensive". A high blood pressure is genetically predisposed in some individuals, but aside from genes, there are other factors that also contribute to it.

So that you can better understand your high blood pressure, you need to know what it really is. Your blood pressure is measured by getting the amount of pressure your blood is exerting against the walls of your blood vessels. If more pressure is being forced against those walls, you will get a high number.

Think of a balloon being filled with water. As more and more water fills the balloon, it stretches to accommodate it...to a point. As it gets very full, you can easily see the balloon thinning out, and if you continue putting water into it, eventually it will stretch itself to the breaking point.

Same is true with your blood vessels. They can and will burst if you let your blood pressure get too high and remain there unchecked. Where the vessel bursts will determine the severity of the results. Vessels bursting in the brain will make you suffer a stroke. Vessels in the heart will make you suffer a heart attack or suffer complete heart failure.

This is why high blood pressure is often called the 'silent killer'. You may feel fine and have no symptoms whatsoever...until the pressure becomes so great that it causes a life-threatening episode.

The numbers of your blood pressure reading are called systolic and diastolic pressure. The systolic pressure is the top number and indicates how much pressure is within the blood vessels every time your heart beats or pumps blood out. The diastolic pressure is the bottom number and indicates how much pressure exists within the blood vessels in between beats, or when your heart is at rest.

Of the two numbers, the bottom number is often seen as more critical. If your diastolic pressure is over the ideal number of 80, this means that extreme pressure is being exerted on your vessels, even when your heart is at rest. With high blood pressure, the spurting force of the blood as it leaves the heart the next time could be the one that proves to be too much.

So how do you lower your blood pressure? If you are overweight, lose those excess pounds. If your are overly stressed, avoid and eliminate the causes of stress. If you are smoking, stop. And if you are sedentary, exercise more.

Or you can do something easier, but is quicker and just as effective. You can avail of my Hypertension Program, which I designed to lower your chances of heart attack or stroke by lowering your blood pressure to acceptable levels. What's more, it does not involve drastic lifestyle changes or hours of sweating in a gym.

It is composed of simple exercises that you can do easily, but the result is nothing short of life-saving.