Ah yes, to increase sales of blood pressure medication keep lowering the levels…
Big pharma at it as usual.
Elevated blood pressure will at some point prove to be an indicator of a problem rather than a problem itself. If you fix the sensor (blood pressure) you havent fixed the underlying cause of the problem.
Very true except people who have genetic predisposition to high blood pressure of course. And fixing the symptoms, while only a partial solution, can prevent the more serious problems emerging.
A good doctor should continue to monitor and encourage the patient to take steps to control things themselves - but that requires a willing patient. You cannot blame this all on big pharma, as I know many people who are probably kept alive by these drugs because they refuse to take any more significant action than popping a few pills.
My BP shot up a few years back, and I spent about 18 months on BP medication - as have high risk of cardiac problems I was strongly advised to do so. However managed to tweak enough to become “normal” again and no longer need the drugs.
The research behind the decision to lower the risk threshold seems sound,
That is very encouraging.
I had very boring normal blood pressure right up until getting Covid, after which it zoomed up to around 180.
It’s coming down nicely but I would far rather not need the drugs.
My late mothers blood pressure would always rise when she had a UTI and fall back again once over it. Mine shot up one evening when because of covid lockdown my job came to a premature end. This was enough for me to call out an ambulance as I felt very unwell. Hence why I try to take better care. Fortunately BP is back around 128 over 85 most of the time but sometimes lower.
Not at my local surgery, sadly… they are all middle-aged ladies. Perfectly nice, but not such as to set the heart racing (probably a good thing!)
I am a retired doctor. When patients were unconvinced about the need to take hypertension seriously, I used the analogy of a pumped system, eg their central heating system or a hydraulic system, if the pressure was higher than optimum, it meant that the pump (heart) was working harder than required, and that the pipes (arteries) were more likely to leak or burst and that neither were a good thing and would lead to an increased risk of major failure possibly resulting in a heart attack, stroke or sudden death.
As others have said, some degree of hypertension used to be accepted with age, however this is no longer the case.
Interesting and thanks for replying.
Why then are there different standards? My doctor waxes lyrical when I am 1-4-0, vero’s attachment shows 14 on the cusp so to speak, yet most charts on the internet put me quite into the red…?
Might be looking at the lower measurement, which may be very good and is the more important one istr
I am not sure he ever mentioned to bottom one (is it more important?) just says 1 4 0, tres bon!!
The bottom one, diastolic pressure, is a much less reliable indicator of risk than the upper one. Sp most doctors don’t with to bother our pretty heads with such complications.
If you are otherwise healthy - normal weight, normal cholesterol, no family history, non-smoker, and eat sensibly and take exercise - a doctor might not get too bothered about 140. Probably reckons that reality outside surgery is lower.
Yes it is more important because the bottom one represents the ‘resting’ default state, ie the best it could be, the base level etc. Whereas the top figure can increase even markedly just for temporary reasons that might not be a worry if a likely reason can be identified and if the rise is not sustained.
Am not an expert though.
Does that actually happen?
Whilst you measure in mm of mercury as an engineer I am familiar with PSI and 20mm of mercury on your scale is only 0.38 PSI which is tiny. 40mm being 0.76 PSI again tiny. But we are told prolonged high blood pressure thickens the walls of the heart. That would also mean strenuous exercise over long periods would be bad. As a huge 60,000 miles of blood capillaries are in the body and many are so fine they require blood cells to change shape in order to deliver blood to the various places. As we age arteries stiffen and calcify making the blood pressure increase to keep the supply going. Whilst there are aneurysms these are more likely to be genetic faults than acutual pressure which would need to be much higher to actually split an artery. Recent analysis shows as we age a lot of the fine capilleries are not functioning further increasing blood pressure?
Thank you for spending your life dedicated to helping others.
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/STROKEAHA.113.002370
2.35 atm was an average burst pressure but went up depending on the vessel tested and age.
That equates to 1786 mm of mercury.
Only if they start reporting BP in Pascals as that’s the SI unit of pressure.
140mmHg = 18.67kPa FWIW
This is the medical world, you expect change 
OK cunningly decimal then…
Thanks for the comments on this thread. This is something of a wake-up call for me. I’ve been less than happy with my health for some time and although I generally eat well I’ve decided to go for a more heart-healthy diet. Exercise is not an issue (though my GP thinks it is). He hasn’t seen where we live!
My GP is happy with my 14/8 reading every 3 months but he’s also warning me my bad cholesterol is higher than it should be and though I am by no means overweight compared with many of my friends in their 70s, I’d like my weight lower.
So, something to work on through 2024.
Oh dear, not that “bad” cholesterol again. They need to go back to medical school
My cholesterol is through the roof and, when he did the “risk calculation”, my doctor was quite taken aback when I declared that, given I ride motorbikes, his calculation was well within my risk appetite.
The short answer is - yes, sometimes. An aneurysm is a damaged artery wall, think a bulge in a tyre. It can expand along the artery wall, seeking a weak point where it can burst through. This is why, in the UK, there is a screening program, measuring the diameter of the aorta, usually a one off, at the age of about 60, but more often if it is larger than expected. Strokes, or medically cerebral vascular accidents, can also be thrombotic, where a bit of thrombus or clot breaks off, travels along the artery until it forms a blockage, the extent of symptoms depend upon where the block is. It is very important to know if a stroke is thrombotic or haemorrhaging as treatment is different and anticoagulants are often used for thrombotic strokes but will make a haemorrhaging stroke worse.
Please note, I have been retired for over a decade, I am trying to explain things, I am not seeking to give advice.
Stay healthy
Simon
Tell me more please. Can I ignore his comments? That said, I do want to be healthier than I am at present.