Blood Pressure

Coco-Cat

Can someone please tell me what the normal range is for the blood pressure for a fit 30 year old male?

My husband has been referred for tests after being told that he has raised blood pressure, but his readings (all around 130/90) seem to be fairly normal to me. He is slightly overweight but is training for FLM and is watching his diet so this should come off. I think they are being over-cautious because he has told them that he gets bad heartburn but I'd be interested in a forumite medical opinion.

Thanks.

Nessie

"Normal blood pressure is less than 120 mmHg systolic and less than 80 mmHg diastolic." (from a health related website).

130/90 is not worryingly high (my mother had BP of 200+/130+ for quite a long time, and is still alive.)

The stress of getting BP taken can increase BP anyway, so I doubt his health is at risk, especially as he is exercising and looking at reducing his weight.

As long as he's a non-smoker, it's nothing to worry about.

Nessie (non-medic, but asked B/F's GP brother a similar question a couple of months ago)

Coco-Cat

Thanks Nessie. He's a non-smoker and does loads of exercise but is having trouble losing his belly at the moment!

[Deleted User]

Most current evidence suggest that the lower your BP, the better your chances of staving off cardiovascular disease (of course, if you start keeling over, your BP is too low).

Saying his BP is 130/90 meens nothing. BP is affected by so many factors that an isolated reading is pretty much useless unless the BP is obviously pathological (i.e. Nessie's mother). He would have to have a high BP on several occasions to diagnose hypertension, but assuming his BP read the same on all occasions, I still wouldn't call him hypertensive. For example, simply walking quickly to the doctors could put his BP up; I cycled for 5 mins once and took my BP - it was 150/80 - 10 minutes later it was back to my usual 130/70. (on a more complex note, being very fit theoretically puts up your systolic BP and drops your diastolic BP, hence why I'm not worried about my sBP being 130)

You have to look at these things in context. He's young and relatively fit, which gives him a low risk of cardiovascular disease. Sure, he may need to loose a little weight, but FLM should do that for him!!

Best,
Dave (nearly a medic - just got finals in the way!)

[Deleted User]

Can blood pressure also be too low?
Mine was measured in the local library as 99/60.
I have been a runner for ages and my resting heart rate is about 40.
Any observations Dave (nearly a medic?)

Brian Wakem

Runningheva - last time I had mine measured it was about 108/50 and nobody seemed concerned.

[Deleted User]

RH

means you are very healthy

[Deleted User]

Thanks Hippo, the card they gave me at the time gave guidelines about high blood pressue, but not about low.
Wasn't realy worried just intrigued.

[Deleted User]

Runningheva, the research shows that the lower your BP the better, UNLESS you are symptomatic of low blood pressure. These symptoms would include dizziness, faintness, tiredness and lethargy, vision 'greying' and you feeling faint when you stand up. If you have these, you should consult your GP. Assuming you don't have these, then you're in pretty good shape!!

Best,
D