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High blood pressure

• More information on high blood pressure in English
• Más recursos en español (Additional resources in Spanish)

"Blood pressure" is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps out blood. If this pressure rises and stays high over time, it's called high blood pressure. With high blood pressure, or hypertension, the blood can't flow easily through your blood vessels. This puts pressure on your vessels, which damages the vessels and strains your heart. As a result, blood doesn't flow as well to your organs, and you can have a heart attack, stroke, eye problems, or kidney problems. If your blood pressure is above normal range, but not high enough to have high blood pressure, then you have prehypertension. This means that you don't have high blood pressure now but are likely to develop it in the future. Even levels slightly above normal increase your heart disease risk.

All women should be aware of their blood pressure levels. Some things increase your chances of having high blood pressure:

• Increasing age (middle aged or older)
• Diabetes
• Obesity (or being overweight)
• Alcohol use
• Eating too much salt
• A family history of high blood pressure
• Not exercising

High blood pressure has no symptoms. All people should have their blood pressure checked at least every two years. Ask your doctor if you need your blood pressure checked more often.

Making some lifestyle changes can help prevent or control high blood pressure:

• If you are overweight, lose weight. Losing just 10 pounds can lower your blood pressure.
• Make physical activity a habit. Health benefits are gained by doing the following each week:
  • 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity
    or
    
  • 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity
    or
    
  • A combination of moderate and vigorous aerobic activity
    and
    
  • Muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days of the week
• Eat heart-healthy foods. Eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Choose lean meats and low-fat dairy products. Limit salt.
• Don't smoke. If you smoke, try to quit. For help along the way, check out our Quitting Smoking section.
• If you drink alcohol, have no more than one drink per day.
• Reduce stress.
• If needed, take medicine to control blood pressure as prescribed by your doctor.

If you have high blood pressure or pre-high blood pressure, you have a higher risk of diabetes. Ask your doctor if you need to be tested for diabetes too.

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More information on high blood pressure in English

Read more from womenshealth.gov

• For Your Heart — This portion of the womenshealth.gov website escorts you through a short, confidential survey of questions about your health and lifestyle. Based on your answers, it provides you with a series of articles detailing the latest information on exercise, nutrition, smoking, diabetes, cholesterol, high blood pressure, and other factors that affect you and your risk for heart disease — all tailored to your needs.
  http://www.womenshealth.gov/for-your-heart/

Explore other publications and websites

• Age Page: High Blood Pressure — This publication discusses what blood pressure is, what is considered high blood pressure, how it is measured, what causes it, and how to prevent it.
  http://www.nia.nih.gov/HealthInformation/Publications/hiblood.htm
• DASH* to the Diet: Prevent and Control High Blood Pressure Following the DASH Eating Plan — This updated booklet contains a week's worth of sample menus and recipes recalculated using 2005 nutrient content data. The "Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension" eating plan features plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other foods that are heart healthy and lower in salt/sodium. It also provides additional information on weight loss and physical activity.
  http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/dash_brief.pdf
• High Blood Pressure — This page is a list of resources about high blood pressure. It links to publications from many different organizations, recent news articles, and clinical trials as well.
  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/highbloodpressure.html
• High Blood Pressure (Copyright © American Heart Association) — High blood pressure is a common but symptomless condition. Knowing about your genetic predispositions, making simple lifestyle changes, and talking to your doctor can help you reduce the risk of high blood pressure. This interactive website includes information on all this and more.
  http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/High-Blood-Pressure_UCM_002020_SubHomePage.jsp
• High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) (Copyright © Mayo Foundation) — This fact sheet will help you understand your risk factors for high blood pressure so that you can help prevent or delay the onset of high blood pressure and its life-threatening complications.
  http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/high-blood-pressure/HI00026/METHOD=print
• Your Guide to Lowering High Blood Pressure — This website has an interactive guide that answers common questions about high blood pressure and offers tips and quizzes. It also provides information on medications and suggestions on how to talk to your doctor.
  http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp/index.html

Connect with other organizations

• American College of Cardiology
  http://www.acc.org/
• American Heart Association
  http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/
• Heart Truth
  http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/educational/hearttruth/
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
  http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/index.htm
• Women's Heart Foundation
  http://www.womensheartfoundation.org

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Más recursos en español (Additional resources in Spanish)

Content last updated May 18, 2010.

Resources last updated May 18, 2010.

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