moderator

High blood pressure is a common condition in which the long-term force of the blood
against your artery walls is high enough that it may eventually cause health problems, such
as heart disease.

Blood pressure is determined both by the amount of blood your heart pumps and the
amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries. The more blood your heart pumps and
the narrower your arteries, the higher your blood pressure.

This means the systolic reading (the pressure as the heart pumps blood around the body) is
over 140 mmHg (millimeters of mercury) and/or the diastolic reading (as the heart relaxes
and refills with blood) is over 90 mmHg.

Leader

Hypertension is defined as having a blood pressure higher than 140 over 90 mmHg, with a
consensus across medical guidelines.1,5

This view has led the American Heart Association (AHA), for example, to define the
following ranges of blood pressure (in mmHg):

Normal blood pressure is below 120 systolic and below 80 diastolic

Prehypertension is 120-139 systolic or 80-89 diastolic

Stage 1 high blood pressure (hypertension) is 140-159 systolic or 90-99 diastolic

Stage 2 high blood pressure (hypertension) is 160 or higher systolic or 100 or higher
diastolic

Hypertensive crisis (a medical emergency) is when blood pressure is above 180 systolic or
above 110 diastolic.
TTS

Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long term medical
condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated.[1] High blood
pressure usually does not cause symptoms.[2] Long term high blood pressure, however, is a major
risk factor for coronary artery disease, stroke, heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, vision
loss, and chronic kidney disease.[3][4]

Blood pressure is expressed by two measurements, the systolic and diastolic pressures, which are
the maximum and minimum pressures, respectively.[2] Normal blood pressure at rest is within the
range of 100–140 millimeters mercury (mmHg) systolic and 60–90 mmHg diastolic.[7] High
blood pressure is present if the resting blood pressure is persistently at or above 140/90 mmHg
for most adults.[5] Different numbers apply to children.[8] Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring
over a 24-hour period appears more accurate than office best blood pressure measurement.[1][5]

Speaker1

Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long term medical
condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated.[1] High blood
pressure usually does not cause symptoms.[2] Long term high blood pressure, however, is a major
risk factor for coronary artery disease, stroke, heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, vision
loss, and chronic kidney disease.[3][4]

High blood pressure is classified as either primary (essential) high blood pressure or secondary
high blood pressure.[5] About 90–95% of cases are primary, defined as high blood pressure due to
nonspecific lifestyle and genetic factors.[5][6] Lifestyle factors that increase the risk include excess
salt, excess body weight, smoking, and alcohol.[2][5] The remaining 5–10% of cases are
categorized as secondary high blood pressure, defined as high blood pressure due to an
identifiable cause, such as chronic kidney disease, narrowing of the kidney arteries, an endocrine
disorder, or the use of birth control pills.[5]

Lifestyle changes and medications can lower blood pressure and decrease the risk of health
complications.[9] Lifestyle changes include weight loss, decreased salt intake, physical exercise, and a
healthy diet.[5] If lifestyle changes are not sufficient then blood pressure medications are used.[9] Up to
three medications can control blood pressure in 90% of people.[5] The treatment of moderately high
arterial blood pressure (defined as >160/100 mmHg) with medications is associated with an improved
life expectancy.[10] The effect of treatment of blood pressure between 140/90 mmHg and 160/100
mmHg is less clear, with some reviews finding benefit[11][12] and others finding a lack of evidence for
benefit.[13] High blood pressure affects between 16 and 37% of the population globally.[5] In 2010
hypertension was believed to have been a factor in 18% (9.4 million) deaths.[14]
Speaker2

Hypertension is rarely accompanied by symptoms, and its identification is usually through

screening, or when seeking healthcare for an unrelated problem. Some with high blood pressure
report headaches (particularly at the back of the head and in the morning), as well as
lightheadedness, vertigo, tinnitus (buzzing or hissing in the ears), altered vision or fainting
episodes.[15] These symptoms, however, might be related to associated anxiety rather than the
high blood pressure itself.[16]

On physical examination, hypertension may be associated with the presence of changes in the
optic fundus seen by ophthalmoscopy.[17] The severity of the changes typical of hypertensive
retinopathy is graded from I–IV; grades I and II may be difficult to differentiate.[17] The severity
of the retinopathy correlates roughly with the duration and/or the severity of the hypertension.[15]

The development of a guideline on the management of high blood pressure by nurses was
identified as an appropriate strategy to facilitate nursing interventions in hypertensive management as a
component of the first stream of this initiative.

This guideline focuses on:

the care of adults 18 years of age and older (including the older adult over 80);

the detection of high blood pressure;

nursing assessment and interventions for those who have a diagnosis of hypertension.