Blood pressure readings have two numbers. The top one is your systolic number (the pressure in your blood vessels when your heart contracts). The bottom one is your diastolic number (the pressure in your arteries when your heart relaxes between beats). The two numbers together show whether your blood pressure is healthy or unhealthy. A high systolic (130 and over) or diastolic (80 and over) can count as high blood pressure. But healthy numbers may also be different for adults, children, and pregnant women.

People who have had a stroke can often make a good recovery with the help of a range of health professionals. Most people's treatment will be carried out by a stroke team. The stroke team may include physiotherapists, speech therapists, dietitians, occupational therapists and psychologists. This team will help the person to regain some or all of the abilities they have lost, and work with them to ensure that they do not have another stroke.

Calcium is needed by all muscle cells, including those of the heart and muscles and surrounding arteries, in order for the cells to contract. CCBs inhibit the movement of calcium into muscle cells. The reduction in calcium reduces the force of the heart's muscular pumping action (cardiac contraction) and thereby reduces blood pressure. These medications also relax the muscle cells surrounding the arteries to further reduce blood pressure. Three major types of calcium channel blockers are available. One type is the dihydropyridines, which do not slow the heart rate or cause other abnormal heart rates or rhythms (cardiac arrhythmias). They are commonly used for treating high blood pressure and are very effective in reducing blood pressure in African Americans.
According to the CDC, a whopping 75 million Americans—that’s nearly 1/3 of the adult population—are struggling with high blood pressure, increasing their risk of heart attack, stroke, and other life-altering health consequences along the way. Skipping the salt and squeezing in some regular workouts can help keep your blood pressure from reaching dangerous levels, but it takes a more proactive approach to keep your blood pressure under control in the long run.


Instead of reaching for drugs, we should continue to find the most effective lifestyle interventions to help lower blood pressure and reduce cardiovascular risk without a laundry list of side effects. Unless, of course, you consider losing weight, having more energy, and feeling great as side effects — those are the type of side effects (from low-carb eating) that we all can embrace! 

Blood pressure charts aren't commonly broken down by age, however, pediatric charts are often separated into ranges for infants, toddlers, and pre-adolescents. Pediatric standards for high and low blood pressure differ from those used for adults. Sometimes gender can influence readings, but measurements are still compared on the same scale. ( Chart reference)

What makes this study valuable is that it documents real world experience. Guidelines are frequently made from trials conducted with more aggressive follow-up and monitoring than is typical in usual care. That fuels the medical community’s perspective that drug interventions are the best course of care, which is why we need more studies like this one from Dr. Sheppard et. al. showing us how low risk patients probably do not benefit from drug therapy in real world scenarios.







‘White coat syndrome’ refers to elevated blood pressure due to nervousness or anxiety when clients have their blood pressure taken by a healthcare provider. This occurs in approximately 20% of clients. Key message: have the client take their blood pressure at home with an automatic home blood pressure cuff and compare the findings. Alternatively, you can ask the client to sit quietly and leave the room while an automatic cuff takes a client’s blood pressure. The automatic cuff can be programmed to take three measurements and the blood pressure documented is an average of the three readings.
Hydralazine has been used for the treatment of high blood pressure since the 1950's. It is believed that hydralazine reduces blood pressure, however there are concerns due to the potential for this drug to cause adverse effects. The aim of this review was to determine the extent to which hydralazine reduces blood pressure, the nature of hydralazines adverse effect profile, and to determine the clinical impact of its use for hypertension. Unfortunately, the search revealed no randomized controlled trials which compared hydralazine to placebo as monotherapy for primary hypertension, therefore we are unable to make firm conclusions regarding its effects on blood pressure, adverse effects, or clinical outcomes. Some of the adverse effects related to hydralazine and that have been reported in the literature include reflex tachycardia, hemolytic anemia, vasculitis, glomerulonephritis, and a lupus-like syndrome.