High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) in Adults: What to Know

High blood pressure is when the force of blood pumping through your arteries is too strong. This is also called hypertension. Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood from your heart to your body.

If you have high blood pressure, your heart has to work harder to pump blood. This may cause the arteries to get narrow or stiff. High blood pressure can lead to a heart attack, heart failure, a stroke, or even kidney disease.

What are the causes?

In some cases, the cause isn't known. But there are many health problems that can cause high blood pressure.

What increases the risk?

• You're older.
• You have a history of:
  • Heart disease.
  • High cholesterol.
  • Kidney disease.
• You have a lot of stress in your life.
• Someone in your family has high blood pressure.
• You have sleep apnea.
• You're overweight.

• You smoke.
• You don't get enough exercise.
• You eat and drink too much fat, sugar, calories, or salt (sodium).
• You drink too much alcohol.

What are the signs or symptoms?

• Headaches.
• Fast or uneven heartbeats.
• Feeling dizzy.
• Changes to your eyesight.
• Nosebleeds.
• Chest pain and feeling short of breath.
• Throwing up or feeling like you may throw up.

How is this diagnosed?

You may be diagnosed based on your health history, symptoms, and blood pressure reading.

• If your blood pressure is above 130/80, you may be told you have high blood pressure.
• If you have a high blood pressure reading during a visit, you may be asked to:
  • Come back a different day to have your blood pressure checked again.
  • Check your blood pressure at home for 1 week or longer.

If you have high blood pressure, you may have blood or imaging tests done.

How is this treated?

• Change your diet.
• Take medicines to lower your blood pressure.
• Exercise more.

Your target blood pressure will depend on your age and how healthy you are.

Follow these instructions at home:

Medicines

• Take your medicines only as told.
• Do not skip doses of blood pressure medicine.
• Tell your provider if you have any side effects from the medicine.

Eating and drinking

• Eat things that are good for your heart. You may want to try the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. To eat this way:
  • Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Try to fill half of your plate with fruits and vegetables.
  • Fill about a fourth of your plate with whole grains. Whole grains include:
    • Whole-wheat pasta.
    • Brown rice.
    • Whole-grain bread.
  • Eat or drink low-fat dairy products, such as low-fat yogurt or skim milk.
  • Avoid fatty cuts of meat, lunch meats, and poultry with skin.
  • Fill about a fourth of your plate with low-fat (lean) proteins, such as:
    • Fish.
    • Chicken without skin.
    • Beans.
    • Eggs.
    • Tofu.
• Avoid processed foods. These tend to be higher in salt, added sugar, and fat.
• Try to eat less than 1,500 mg of salt a day.
• Do not drink alcohol if:
  • Your health care provider tells you not to drink.
  • You're pregnant, may be pregnant, or plan to become pregnant.
• If you drink alcohol:
  • Limit how much you have to:
    • 0–1 drink a day if you're female.
    • 0–2 drinks a day if you're male.
  • Know how much alcohol is in your drink. In the U.S., one drink is one 12 oz bottle of beer (355 mL), one 5 oz glass of wine (148 mL), or one 1½ oz glass of hard liquor (44 mL).

Lifestyle

• Stay at a healthy body weight. Ask what a good weight is for you.
• Try to get 90–150 minutes per week of exercise that causes your heart to beat faster. This is called aerobic exercise. This may include:
  • Walking.
  • Swimming.
  • Biking.
• Include exercises to strengthen your muscles for 30 minutes at least 3 days a week, such as:
  • Pilates.
  • Lifting weights.

General instructions

• Do not smoke, vape, or use nicotine or tobacco.
• Check your blood pressure at home as told.
• Keep all follow-up visits. Your provider will want to check that your blood pressure is coming down.

Contact a health care provider if:

• You have headaches.
• You feel dizzy.
• You have eyesight changes.

Get help right away if:

• You have chest, back, or belly pain.
• You have trouble breathing.
• You faint.

• B - Balance. Feeling dizzy, sudden trouble walking, or loss of balance.
• E - Eyes. Trouble seeing or a change in how you see.
• F - Face. Sudden weakness or feeling numb in the face. The face or eyelid may droop on one side.
• A - Arms. Weakness or loss of feeling in an arm. This happens fast and often only on one side.
• S - Speech. Sudden trouble speaking, slurred speech, or trouble understanding what people say.
• T - Time. Time to call 911. Write down what time symptoms started.

• A sudden, very bad headache with no known cause.
• Feeling like you may throw up.
• Throwing up.

• Do not wait to see if the symptoms will go away.
• Do not drive yourself to the hospital.