A healthy heart pressure, usually referred to as blood pressure -- is determined by the force of your blood pushing against your arteries as your heart pumps blood. Maintaining a healthy blood pressure is important, because if it becomes too high -- which is known as high blood pressure, or HBP -- you may experience serious health problems. Roughly one in three adults in the United States has HBP, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.
Definition
The more blood your heart pumps and the narrower your arteries, the more likely you are to have HBP. If you do not visit a doctor, you can have unhealthy blood pressure for years without knowing it, because it usually doesn't have any symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Types
Your blood pressure is measured by two numbers that indicate the pressure when the heart is pumping blood, or systolic blood pressure, and the pressure when your heart is resting, or diastolic blood pressure. The systolic number is usually written above or before the diastolic number. A healthy, systolic blood pressure for adults over 18 is less than 120, and a healthy diastolic blood pressure is less than 80, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Systolic and diastolic numbers higher than the healthy range can indicate that you are in the prehypertension range -- at a high risk for high blood pressure -- or that you have HBP and need to seek medical advice.
Effects
A healthy blood pressure may help protect your health; a high heart pressure of 140 over 90 or above can result in several undesirable health conditions. Due to a lack of symptoms, an unhealthy heart pressure may be undetected and go without treatment, leading to heart failure, coronary artery disease, stroke, kidney failure and other serious medical issues, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. If you already have chronic kidney disease or diabetes, your heart pressure is considered high at 130 over 80, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.
Maintenance
Blood pressure rises when heart vessels become clogged with plaque, which forces the heart to work twice as hard, according to University of Maryland Medical Center, or UMMC. Luckily, there may be several ways you can maintain healthy blood pressure. For instance, eating a diet containing less artery-clogging fat may help reduce it. You can also exercise to stimulate the production of a substance called nitric oxide, which opens heart vessels, and thus, improves your blood pressure, states the UMMC. In addition, lowering your sodium intake, limiting alcohol consumption and not smoking may help you maintain a healthy heart pressure. The Mayo Clinic advises getting your blood pressure checked at least every two years.
