{"id":4232,"date":"2017-12-18T11:52:07","date_gmt":"2017-12-18T19:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/?p=4232"},"modified":"2019-11-07T23:52:22","modified_gmt":"2019-11-08T07:52:22","slug":"new-blood-pressure-guidelines-hypertension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/new-blood-pressure-guidelines-hypertension\/","title":{"rendered":"Blood pressure guidelines and hypertension"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Did you know that about <strong>46% of all Americans are considered hypertensive?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) <a href=\"http:\/\/hyper.ahajournals.org\/content\/early\/2017\/11\/10\/HYP.0000000000000065\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">guidelines<\/a>\u00a0classify the limits of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension.<\/p>\n<p>The cutoffs for hypertension are a systolic number of 130 and a diastolic number of 80 (or 130\/80).<\/p>\n<p>From the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.acc.org\/latest-in-cardiology\/articles\/2017\/11\/08\/11\/47\/mon-5pm-bp-guideline-aha-2017\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ACC<\/a>, here are the blood pressure guidelines:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Normal: Less than 120\/80 mm Hg<\/li>\n<li>Elevated: A top number between 120-129 and bottom number less than 80<\/li>\n<li>Stage 1: Top of 130-139 or bottom between 80-89<\/li>\n<li>Stage 2: Top at least 140 or bottom at least 90<\/li>\n<li>Hypertensive crisis: Top over 180 and\/or bottom over 120. This requires immediate medical attention and, possibly, hospitalization<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What if I\u2019m considered hypertensive?<\/h2>\n<p>If you\u2019re saying to yourself, \u201cUh oh. Suddenly, I've got high blood pressure,\" don\u2019t stress. The good news is that most people who fall into this elevated level probably don\u2019t need medication.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, the blood pressure guidelines suggest that if you\u2019re hypertensive, you only need to consider medication if you\u2019ve already had a stroke or heart attack. (Or if your doctor thinks you\u2019re likely to have a stroke or heart attack.)<\/p>\n<p>Instead, you should lower your blood pressure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/entry\/new-blood-pressure-guidelines-and-how-to-control-bp_us_5a1cb399e4b09413e786ae6c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">naturally<\/a>\u00a0by changing your diet, exercise, and lifestyle.<\/p>\n<p>And remember, you don\u2019t need to bulk up in a gym. <a href=\"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/20-creative-ways-to-take-more-steps-per-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Walking<\/a>, jogging, cycling, or swimming are considered some of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/diseases-conditions\/high-blood-pressure\/in-depth\/high-blood-pressure\/art-20046974\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">best ways<\/a> to lower blood pressure.<\/p>\n<p>Now for food. Start by noting or cutting back on your sodium intake. You may also consider increasing your potassium through whole fruits and vegetables.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re looking for inspiration, see if your employer offers programs to track your food and steps. <a href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/article-abstract\/209526\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Research shows<\/a> that tracking your steps increases physical activity by more than 26%!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Did you know that about 46% of all Americans are considered hypertensive? The American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) guidelines\u00a0classify the limits of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension. The cutoffs for hypertension are a systolic number of 130 and a diastolic number of 80 (or 130\/80). From the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":5033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9],"tags":[86,85,290,408],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/blood-pressure-guidelines-2-featured.jpg","acf":{"post_type":"post","post_subtitle":"2 key organizations have classified high blood pressure. Which category are you in?","post_hero_image":{"ID":5034,"id":5034,"title":"blood-pressure-guidelines-2-hero","filename":"blood-pressure-guidelines-2-hero.jpg","filesize":38856,"url":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/blood-pressure-guidelines-2-hero.jpg","link":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/new-blood-pressure-guidelines-hypertension\/blood-pressure-guidelines-2-hero\/","alt":"A doctor measures the blood pressure of a man in a blue short-sleeve shirt, in accordance with the new blood pressure guidelines from the American Heart Association.","author":"49","description":"A doctor measures the blood pressure of a man in a blue short-sleeve shirt, in accordance with the new blood pressure guidelines from the American Heart Association.","caption":"Two key organizations have reclassified what it means to have high blood pressure. Which category do you fall into?","name":"blood-pressure-guidelines-2-hero","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":4232,"date":"2018-02-21 22:37:24","modified":"2018-02-21 23:12:59","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":960,"height":400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/blood-pressure-guidelines-2-hero.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":63,"medium":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/blood-pressure-guidelines-2-hero.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":125,"medium_large":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/blood-pressure-guidelines-2-hero.jpg","medium_large-width":640,"medium_large-height":267,"large":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/blood-pressure-guidelines-2-hero.jpg","large-width":640,"large-height":267,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/blood-pressure-guidelines-2-hero.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":400,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/blood-pressure-guidelines-2-hero.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":400}},"mobile_content":{"mobile_story_label":"Featured","mobile_post_title":"New blood pressure guidelines lower the bar for hypertension","mobile_carousel_image":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/blood-pressure-guidelines-2-mobile.jpg","mobile_hero_image":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/blood-pressure-guidelines-2-featured.jpg","mobile_content_body":"<p>Quick, what\u2019s your blood pressure?<\/p>\n<p>In November 2017, The American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) released a <a href=\"http:\/\/hyper.ahajournals.org\/content\/early\/2017\/11\/10\/HYP.0000000000000065\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new set of guidelines<\/a> that reclassifies the limits of what\u2019s considered high blood pressure, also known as hypertension.<\/p>\n<p>And they could seem a bit shocking. At first.<\/p>\n<p>Why? Because the cutoff for hypertension used to be a systolic number of 140 and a diastolic number of 90 (or 140\/90).<\/p>\n<p>But now the <strong>AHA and ACC classify hypertension as 130\/80.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Which means that about <strong>46% of all Americans will now be considered hypertensive.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>From the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.acc.org\/latest-in-cardiology\/articles\/2017\/11\/08\/11\/47\/mon-5pm-bp-guideline-aha-2017\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ACC<\/a>, here are the new blood pressure guidelines:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Normal: Less than 120\/80 mm Hg<\/li>\n<li>Elevated: Top number between 120-129 and bottom number less than 80<\/li>\n<li>Stage 1: Top of 130-139 or bottom between 80-89<\/li>\n<li>Stage 2: Top at least 140 or bottom at least 90<\/li>\n<li>Hypertensive crisis: Top over 180 and\/or bottom over 120. This requires immediate medical attention and, possibly, hospitalization<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What if I\u2019m now considered hypertensive?<\/h2>\n<p>If you\u2019re saying to yourself, \u201cUh oh. Suddenly I've got high blood pressure\u201d\u2014don\u2019t stress. The good news is that most people who fall into this elevated level probably don\u2019t need medication.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, these new blood pressure guidelines suggest that if you\u2019re considered hypertensive, you only need to consider medication if you\u2019ve already had a stroke or heart attack. (Or if your doctor thinks you\u2019re likely to have a stroke or heart attack.)<\/p>\n<p>Instead, you should lower your blood pressure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/entry\/new-blood-pressure-guidelines-and-how-to-control-bp_us_5a1cb399e4b09413e786ae6c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">naturally<\/a>\u00a0by changing your diet, exercise, and lifestyle.<\/p>\n<p>And remember, you don\u2019t need to bulk up in a gym. Walking, jogging, cycling, or swimming are considered some of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/diseases-conditions\/high-blood-pressure\/in-depth\/high-blood-pressure\/art-20046974\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">best ways<\/a> to lower blood pressure.<\/p>\n<p>Now for food. Start by noting or cutting back on your sodium intake. And maybe consider increasing your potassium through whole fruits and vegetables.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re looking for inspiration, see if your employer offers programs to track your food and steps. <a href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/article-abstract\/209526\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Research shows<\/a> that tracking your steps increases physical activity by more than 26%!<\/p>\n"},"post_cta_status":"true","post_conclusion_status":"false","post_co_branding_status":"false","card_title":"Blood pressure guidelines and hypertension","header":"Worth the look","footer":"2 minute read"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4232"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}