| High Blood Pressure | How Blood Pressure Is Measured? | Prevention & Treatment | What do the numbers mean? | Personal Health Passport |
What do the numbers mean?
Look below to see blood pressure levels for adults*.
| Category | Systolic**(MMHG)*** | Diastolic**(MMHG)*** | Result | |
| Normal | less than 120 | and | less than 80 | Good for you! |
| Prehypertension | 120 to 139 | or | 80 to 89 | Your blood pressure could be a problem. Make changes in what you eat and drink, be physically active, and lose extra weight. If you also have diabetes, see your doctor. |
| Hypertension | 140 or higher | and | 90 or higher | You have high blood pressure. Ask your doctor or nurse how to control it. |
* For adults ages 18 and older who are not on medicine for high blood pressure and do not have a short-term serious illness. Source: The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure; NIH Publication No. 03-5230, National High Blood Pressure Education Program, May 2003.
** If systolic and diastolic pressures fall into different categories, overall status is the higher category.
*** Millimeters of mercury.
