Blood pressure is the force of blood pushed against artery walls during contraction and relaxation of the heart.
Each time, when the heart beats, it pumps blood into the arteries. It results in high blood pressure as the heart contracts.
When the heart relaxes, blood pressure gets lowered. Often, two numbers are recorded when measuring blood pressure.
The highest number is called systolic pressure. It refers to the pressure inside the artery when the heart contracts and pumps blood through the body. The lower number is called diastolic blood pressure. It indicates pressure inside the artery when the heart is at rest and gets filled with blood. Both pressures are often recorded as mmHg.
Blood pressure measurements are categorized as normal, elevated, stage 1 and stage 2 blood pressure.
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Normal blood pressure is systolic less than 120 and diastolic less than 80
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Elevated blood pressure is systolic of 120 and diastolic less than 80
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Stage 1 blood pressure is systolic of 130 and diastolic of 80
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Stage 2 blood pressure is systolic of 140 and diastolic of 90