Lake Regional Health System | Thrive | Summer 2019

8 | Summer 2019 HEART 120-129 80 130-139 80-89 OR 140 HIGHER OR 90 HIGHER Systolic mm Hg Diastolic mm Hg Sources: American Heart Association; National Institutes of Health Know your numbers: Talk with your doctor about your blood pressure. Ask how often you should have it checked. Blood pressure is the force of blood against the walls of blood vessels. High blood pressure, or hypertension, can cause your heart to work too hard. This raises your risk for serious health problems, including heart attack and stroke. Blood pressure by the numbers Normal Elevated Stage 1 hypertension Stage 2 hypertension Medical care needed right away Measured in mm Hg (millimeters of mercury) OR OR AND LESS THAN 120 90 80 70 140 130 180 120 Blood pressure: Could yours be too high? I f you haven’t done so lately, you may want to ask your doctor to give your blood pressure another look. The reason? The American Heart Association recently changed its definition of high blood pressure — a condition that boosts the risks of some serious diseases. Many people who didn’t have high blood pressure under the old defini- tion have it now. Could you be one of them? Getting your blood pressure checked is the only way to find out. High blood pressure increases your chances of having things like a heart attack or stroke, kidney disease, or vision loss because it damages blood vessels, among other things. So it’s important to keep your blood pressure in a healthy range. How do you do that? By making healthy choices — including eating a nutritious diet and exercising — and taking medications as needed. But first, find out where you stand by having your blood pressure checked. Take the first step. Find out when we’re offering our next free blood pressure screening. Go to lakeregional.com/events . AND LESS THAN LESS THAN 120 80 AND/OR HIGHER THAN HIGHER THAN 180 120 HEALTH

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