The Facts About High Blood Pressure

What is high blood pressure?

High blood pressure (also referred to as HBP or hypertension) is when your blood pressure, the force of blood flowing through your blood vessels, is consistently too high. Learn more about high blood pressure.

If you have high blood pressure, you are not alone

  • Nearly half of American adults have high blood pressure. (Many don’t even know they have it.)
  • The best way to know if you have high blood pressure it is to have your blood pressure checked.

Know your numbers

A female doctor in a white lab coat consults with a female patient, both smiling and looking at a document on the desk in a medical office.

High blood pressure is a “silent killer”

Preventing and managing HBP

  • This is one time that the old adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” is particularly apt. It’s best to avoid high blood pressure altogether. Healthy lifestyle choices are a great place to start.
  • With proper treatment and management, you can control your blood pressure to help you live a long and healthy life.
A chart categorizing blood pressure levels into five groups: normal, elevated, high blood pressure stage 1 and 2, and hypertensive crisis, with corresponding systolic and diastolic mm hg values.