About one in five adults in the United States has prehypertension. High blood pressure is serious. It puts you at risk for heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness and dementia. You need to know what your blood pressure is. This is especially important if you have a family history of high blood pressure. You should have a blood pressure measurement every year or two or more often if you have any abnormal readings. If you suspect you may have high blood pressure or prehypertension or if you haven't had your blood pressure checked for a while, see a doctor.
If it is high, you want to reduce it as soon as possible, even if you have to take medication. The consequences of untreated high blood pressure are significant to your health. If the top number of your blood pressure reading systolic pressure is or higher, you may be able to reduce it by making lifestyle choices such as exercise and dietary changes.
If the top number is or higher, you may need to take prescription medication to reduce your blood pressure. You may not need to take medication for life. Doctors are beginning to suspect that prehypertension is too. About one out of six people with prehypertension in one study developed CKD.
In this study, the people with prehypertension who developed chronic kidney disease were also often overweight or obese. Prehypertension often occurs in someone with several risks for heart disease. These are diabetes, cholesterol problems, chronic kidney disease, smoking, and coronary artery disease.
The larger your waist size, the more likely you are to have problems with high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease, or another heart disease risk factor. Just being overweight makes it more likely that you will develop hypertension. Overweight is also linked to chronic kidney disease. How can you reduce these heart disease risks? You probably have heard the important steps before. Take every dose of every medicine you need. Make changes in your lifestyle. Lose weight if you are overweight.
Make healthier food choices. Find ways to be more physically active. And, of course, refrain from smoking. Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. You've heard it before — eat healthy foods, use less salt, exercise regularly, maintain a healthy weight, drink less alcohol, manage stress and quit smoking. But take the advice to heart. Start adopting healthier habits today. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products.
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Overview Elevated blood pressure means that your blood pressure is slightly above what is considered normal. Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references High blood pressure. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. No treatment is necessary, but you should monitor your blood pressure to be sure that it remains within the normal range.
Prehypertension: Systolic between and mm Hg or a diastolic between 80 and 89 mm Hg. However, because people in this group have some risk of moving on to developing heart disease, we recommend lifestyle measures to try to prevent the onset of hypertension. Stage 1: Systolic between and mm Hg or diastolic 90 and 99 mm Hg. Management includes the same lifestyle measures as with prehypertension and the use of one of a number of drugs that are known to not only reduce blood pressure but also to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Classes of drugs include: thiazide diuretics , ACE inhibitors , angiotensin receptor blockers , beta blockers , and calcium channel blockers. You may have to try different drugs until you find the one that has the best results for you.
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