Do you know your numbers?

May is National High Blood Pressure Month and it’s a good time to get to know your numbers.

Blood pressure is the force of blood against the artery walls. It is stated as a set of two numbers, the top (systolic pressure) measures the force of your heart beating and the bottom (diastolic pressure) measures the relaxation between beats.

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, a high blood pressure diagnosis results when you have repeated readings of 140 over 90. Pre-hypertension is the term given to readings from 120 to 139 over 80-89.

High blood pressure is considered a “silent killer” because often there are no symptoms at first. Through time, uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure, or kidney failure.

More than 72 million American adults, 1 in 3, have high blood pressure. Although certain risk factors, such as age or family history, can’t be controlled, we can make lifestyle changes to help maintain a healthy blood pressure.

Get yourself checked. Learn your numbers now.