High blood pressure is often referred to as the silent killer because there are rarely any symptoms until you suffer a major health crisis. Having high blood pressure, or hypertension, means that the force at which your blood is pumping through your arteries is at a level that could cause serious harm to your circulatory system and other organs.

Uncontrolled hypertension can cause:

• Stroke
• Heart disease
• Kidney failure
• Heart attack

One of the difficulties of having high blood pressure is that you’re unlikely to experience any symptoms, at least until the damage causes other health problems. For that reason, it’s essential to attend regular blood pressure checks.

High blood pressure can be due to a variety of causes, including:

• High-fat diet
• High cholesterol
• Consuming too much salt
• Diabetes
• Hormonal imbalances
• Kidney disease
• Lack of exercise
• Advancing age
• Being overweight
• Stress
• Smoking
• Drinking too much alcohol

The good news about blood pressure is that it’s straightforward to measure, and therefore you can find out how healthy your reading is in moments. Your provider wraps an inflatable band around your upper arm and inflates it, taking the readings off a meter.

A normal blood pressure reading is below 120 systolic and below 80 diastolic. High blood pressure would be over 140 systolic and above 90 diastolic, and if it reaches 160 or above systolic and 100 or above diastolic, your blood pressure is dangerously high.