Conversation: The conversation between human and AI assistant.
[|Human|] my blood pressure stays pretty consistant at 164/80. I m a 57 year old male and just went through parathyroid surgery and thought my blood pressure might drop but still staying the same. I worrk out on the treadmill and weigh 170 lbs. Do I need to start taking meds to bring it down???
[|AI|]  Thank you for your question and welcome to Chat Doctor. I carefully read your query. The standard and normal blood pressure in population worldwide is from 100 to 139 mmHg systolic and from 60 to 89 mmHg diastolic. Every prolonged and long-standing blood pressure over 140/90 mmHg is not dangerous acutely and per se, but it predisposes to other organ damages and, especially, those that are comprised by arteries of very small calibers or arterioles, which are present in great amounts, such as the eye and kidneys. Constant figures like those provided by you, require treatment as soon as possible, and the strategy of attacking these blood pressure figures depend on your cardiologists most reasonable approach. If you were my patient, I would start with a beta-blocker, since, besides blood pressure-lowering effects, they have the property of decreasing the heart workload. If counterindicated, for the same aims, a calcium channel blocker (verapamil or diltiazem) could be started. There are other classes for lowering the blood pressure, and they are all almost equally safe and effective to be used. After medication is started, blood pressure figures should be monitored by some measurements a day, with the main aim to keep them under 140/90 mmHg. I hope I was helpful. Wish you a good health.