Guide To Understanding Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is the measurement of the force of an individual's blood pushing against the walls of their arteries as it is traveling through them. These measurements are important to an individual's health because just like filling a bike tire up with too much air can cause damage, filling up the arteries with the force of too much blood can also produce damage. Approximately thirty percent of all adults in the United States are affected by high blood pressure. Most individuals with high blood pressure do not realize it until it is discovered during a standard check-up. Individuals over fifty-five years old, who are inactive, smokers, African-American, overweight, illicit drug users, have a high salt diet, heavy alcohol drinkers, or who have a family or personal history of heart disease or diabetes are at an increased risk of developing high blood pressure.