Sugar Land - Visiting Nurse Assn. Left untreated, high blood pressure can lead to increased risk for heart disease and stroke. In fact, a person with diabetes and high blood pressure is four times as likely to get heart disease than someone who does not have either of the conditions.
Blood pressure is the force of the blood pushing against the artery walls.
Each time the heart beats, it is pumping blood into these arteries - resulting in the highest blood pressure when the heart contracts and is pumping the blood. With high blood pressure, the arteries may have an increased resistance against the flow of blood, causing the heart to pump harder to circulate the blood. Two numbers are used to measure blood pressure. The higher number the systolic pressure , refers to the pressure inside the artery when the heart contracts and is pumping the blood through the body. The lower number, the diastolic pressure , refers to the pressure inside the artery when the heart is at rest and is filling with blood.