Blood pressure is the force of blood pressing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps blood around the body. The heart beats by contracting and relaxing. Every time the heart contracts, it forces blood around the body (the heartbeat). The heart rests briefly between each heartbeat.
The pressure of blood flowing through your arteries is higher when your heart contracts than when it relaxes, so when we measure blood pressure, we look at two different measurements;

Systolic pressure – the pressure when the heart contracts
Diastolic pressure – the pressure when the heart is resting

When someone tells you what your blood pressure is, they will give one figure for your systolic pressure and another for your diastolic pressure. For example, if you have a systolic pressure of 130mmHg and a diastolic pressure of 70mmHg, they will usually say that your blood pressure is ‘130 over 70’.
As we get older, our arteries fur up, they become stiffer and this pressure increases, a higher pressure means more stress on the artery wall, which in turn can lead to damage and risk of heart disease, heart attack, stroke and many other health complications.

	Systolic Pressure	Diastolic Pressure	What To Do
Normal	Below 120	Below 80	Maintain or adopt a healthy lifestyle.
​Borderline High	120 – 139	​80 – 89	Maintain or adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Stage 1 Hypertension	140 – 159	​90 – 99	​Speak with your GP and aim to reach normal blood pressure within 6 months. Medication may be required.
Stage 2 Hypertension	160 or more	​100 or more	​Seek medical help immediately and work with your GP to control your blood pressure. ​Medication may be required.

The values in the table above are indicated in millimetres of mercury (mmHg)