Q: What number is considered too high when taking my BP and pulse is 112?
A: Normal blood pressure is less than 120/80. Prehypertension is 120/80 to 139/89. Consistent readings above this level need to be evaluated by a health care provider for consideration of treatment. A normal heart rate for adults at rest ranges from 60 to 100. Your rate is high if this is a resting measurement. You should be evaluated by your doctor. For more information about your pulse or heart rate, go to this page at the Mayo Clinic site.
(10 votes, average: 3.30 out of 5)
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So (DR?) Rowena is saying that 121/80 is not normal. To make a remark that “normal pressure is 120/80” is information from an alarmist – a dangerous thing to say. Rowena has said similarly dangerous thing before. Beware!
120/80 is desirable. Normal depends on the individual person.
normal also depends on the age. A 70 year old man such as myself will not have the same blood pressure as a 20 year old. So if a 70 year old has a blood pressure reading of 145/80 witha pulse of 65 with no medication he is doing excellent. Most doctors would try and give him drugs to bring it down to what they consider for everybody,however the drugs and their side effects and the extra drugs to treat the side effect would kill him before the high blood pressure. A hear rate of 100 bpm is very dangerous for some people. My wife has all kinds of problems when her heart rate gets to 90 and above and her heart specialist wants to keep it below 80 for her. each individual is different and no one number fits everybody. these false and inacturate numbers are being pushed by the big drug companies to get more peoplr on drugs–its all about money-honey!
Absolutely – blood pressure depends on age of many other factors, so to say that normal is less than 120/80 is pure quackery.
120/80 is not Dr. Rowena’s number for normal B.P. It is the number all physicians use. Also as you age your blood pressure generally rises as does your risk for stroke kidney and heart disease. There is a good reason why the majority of stroke victims are older than 65. Medication or other means of lowering your blood pressure below what is “average” for your age (if it is above 120/80) reduces your risk for stroke, cardiovacular and kidney disease.
Oh no, not all physicians use 120/80 for normal BP. The wise
physicians tell their patients what is normal for them. And if they use a number they give a range of numbers like 120 to 130 over 80 – not just one set like 120/80
Thanks for confirming my contention that as we age, our parameters change. It is just common sense that the old machine does not work as well as a new one, therefore, the expectations cannot be the same. My BP without medication is around 145/70 with pulse at 60 and I am 72.
My lood pressure is 145/65
My blood pressure very from 145/ 56 120/ 56 WHY
Having performed heart research since about 1978, I’ll make the following comments. Dr. Rowena is usually spot on. Blood pressure tends to increase with age because your heart valves and arteries tend to get stiffer. Blood pressure varies throughout the day. It is likely to be fairly low first thing in the morning, mainly because you haven’t done much yet, except sleep, if you’re fortunate. Any problems with insomnia whereby you get less than 7 or 8 hours of sleep tend to raise blood pressure. So, insomnia may result in abnormal pressures, even first thing in the morning. As you become more active, pressures tend to rise. Dr. Rowena is talking about the average pressures used by cardiologists and physicians in general. I doubt she ever said that 121/80 is seriously abnormal. But, statistically speaking, if you are consistently over 120/80, either systolic or diastolic, you are pre-hypertensive. If you reach 130/90, again consistently, you are borderline hypertensive. And, if you get readings higher than that, you are hypertensive. With any consistent readings much over 120/80, you should be consulting your physician. I proved to myself that Resperate works by plotting my blood pressure every day during the first 2 months of using the device at least 3 or 4 times per week. My pressure dropped linearly with time by 10 points or more for both diastolic and systolic readings. I use both Resperate and small doses of an ACE inhibitor. When I sleep well, I get readings about 110-115 for the systolic number and around 75 or so for the diastolic number. You absolutely need to walk or do other aerobic exercise at least 3 or 4 times a week. This will also reduce edema (swelling) in the legs and feet. As you get older, some strength exercises are also useful, since you are losing muscle mass. Good luck!
I am a male, age 82 my doc has put me on 5mg tablets for BP. I AM LOOKING AT READINGS OF BETWEEN 140/70,
Is this about normal?I weigh in around 12 stone ie.168 lbs and 5,10 height.any advice appreciated.John
I have been perusing the comments to several questions posed here and there’s so much misinformation it is frankly alarming. A good place to start learning about high blood pressure is here http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/hbp/.
I myself had been debating whether to take medications or not but finally decided that, after increasing my exercise regimen, taking yoga classes for more than 1 1/2 years, trying the DASH diet and the fact that I’m not overweight but my blood pressure still kept rising, it was better to play with the odds and take medications rather than face the consequences of living with hypertension. I have been taking bp readings for many years and the trend, once plotted, was unmistakable, going up, with the average at 134/93. Other than that, I’m a very healthy 57 year old and the cardiologist, after a battery of tests, diagnosed me with essential hypertension. The fact that I was getting already some individual diastolic readings in the 100s was, for me, a signal that I needed to go the medicine route since all the exercise and diets had not made an impact other than, as the cardiologist told me, keeping my blood pressure from getting extremely high. Genetics may have played a role in my case since my mother has been taking hypertension medications for about 30 years and still doing very well at 92 years.