Blood Pressure 120/80? Now It's Called "Prehypertension"

Good point about your 90/60 BP. It's normal for YOU, but possibly abnormal for someone else.

I had a similar proble, Sugar, though related to a convulsive cough early in the year. I would pass out from time to time. They took it well in stride. I mean, the doctors did. I didn't take it so well.

I've been reading about that recently, Phoenix - and I'm
glad that my blood pressure meds keep mine to a strict
120 over 70 ... because I think that the "normal" ranges
listed on all these blood pressure machines in stores,
groceries, etc are misleading. ANYTHING over 120/80 is
a signal to watch your blood pressure. I think that the long
term studies are starting to show that control within what
they have called "normal limits" is not good enough to
prevent the back up pressure ot puts on your heart that
eventually causes congestive heart failure. I've always
thought that they left WAY too large a range open for
what was considered "normal" blood pressure. I think
that if it's over 120/80 - it has to be monitored closely.

I asked my doctor what he thought about this - since my blood pressure usually runs anywhere from 118 - 130 over 60 - 80. (Seems to depend on who's taking it, which arm, when, and what kind of cuff they are using.) When I was younger it tended to run lower.

He told me to forget about it. I see him fairly regularly, and he's not so sure about the study. So many of them are funded and founded by pharmaceutical companies that some doubt creeps in.

About 20 years ago there was a study that said the eating of fatty fish - salmon and tuna - was bad for you. Over the next several years more studies were made, and they found that these were the very fish oils that were good for you.

So today, I do what my doctors suggest - moderation in all things (except when I can't resist). Including salt, which it appears is no longer the culprit it was thought to be.

I went to the doctor's office today (for another reason) and had my BP read. It was 120/80. I asked the nurse if I should be concerned. She looked at me like I'd grown a third eye, so I mentioned the report. She hadn't seen it, hadn't heard about it and nothing had come down from administration to look for this and make recommendations.

I was a little taken aback and glad to come back here and read the report more carefully. It appears that in the NIH report they say that my BP is the beginning level for concern and lifestyle changes should be made but no meds. Later on though, it says that it is normal and what they should aim for with the meds.

Now, I'm really confused but have decided that I'm going to have my BP taken again, probably at the Fire Station. As it happened one of my neighbors was at the doctor's, having come in because she'd checked her BP at home and it was 200/100... at the Fire Station it was 199/99. Her color was awful, she looked pale as a rag. I was worried about her. Her BP medicine had been cut in half recently, and she thought that was the problem. Very scary for her.

mama, I'm with you; everything in moderation is good enough for me! Too many restrictions can cause stress - don't eat this, and don't eat that. It's really kind of a stupid way to live a life. My BP pressure resembles close to yours, but after regular excercise from my recent trip to Peru and Ecuador, my BP today was 117 over 66. I also lost about five pounds during the trip. c.i.

and plenty of holidays and overseas travel!!! Can't miss an opportunity to rub it in can ya, CI?!

Piffka-200/100 is dangerous. That neighbor needs to be watched, carefully. I think that people who are borderline though can't get too neurotic over these new guidelines.

My pressure was high 140s/80ish, and I take a couple of meds for it. I found that one of the medications was causing me to retain water in my legs. (One of the meds is a diuretic, but it wasn't helping). So I cut the other pill in half. I have a cuff at home. Since I cut the pill in half, my legs are much better, and my pressure seems to be even lower!

Phoenix -- Well, I'm worried about the neighbor and she lives alone, too.

140/80 requires meds? Yikes. I'm glad that you've figured out a regime that works for you. I was surprised that diuretics, according to that report, are so effective.

Phoenix, Good for you! Taking responsibility for your own health is the way to live your life. Too many people want/wish to blame everybodyelse but themselves for their poor health. Ever hear of "trans-fat?" c.i.

Wondering a bit, c.i., but besides Oreos, what are they contained in. I recently switched to Canola Harvest based on a previous comment of yours. Please don't tell me it contains trans-fat now. By the way, the stuff doesn't have any kind of off-putting taste.

Trans-fats are in every commercially packaged cracker or cookie. They're in many dry cereals, instant dinners and cake-mixes. Everytime you buy some food in a box, it is likely to have trans-fats in it.

Piffka- Before I started the meds, it was even a little higher than that. This morning, at the MD it was 126/70something. My pulse had been high, but I have been exercising much more, and it is going down!

Glad to hear it, Phoenix! The lifestyle changes seem to be v. effective. More exercise, less salt....

Here's an informative link on Trans-Fatty Acids. It seems that hydrogenated oils are one of the big culprits - even in soy oil. ;( http://www.enig.com/0001t14.html c.i.

Here's a excellent report from Harvard:

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/reviews/transfats.html

Diruetics do not work for everyone. Moreover, many of these diuretics are sulfonamide derivatives and as such can not be administered to patients with a sulfonamide allergy ( ie allergy to a med like Bactrim. )

Relative to BP: diuretics work for some, not all. In the later case, another anti-hypertensive must be Rxed.


200/100 is serious enough, to go to an ER for an Rx immediately.

The root of all evil is really ANXIETY. This in itself can elevate your BP.
Relax, be happy and of course, don't forget to meditate.

Phoenix, Excellent link. Thanks a million. c.i.

So much of what's been said is great stuff. I heartily agree
with Mama's sticking to the golden oldie "avoid excesses in
all things" it makes more sense than following the ever
changing BS that is fed to us about hidden dangers in foods.
I never stopped eating eggs, when they said eggs are bad
for you. I never ate eggs more than 1 or 2 times a week
anyway. During a post grad course at UF in molecular
genetics, I began to see what was coming; which essentially
is that genetics is ALL. Changing diet & exercise - lifestyle - it's
all is for naught. Your body is already preprogrammed from
the moment of your birth with ALL the information about when
& from what you will die - unless you are killed in a car accident
or something else. This info leads the scientific community into
a more positive direction. Rather than just treating the diseases;
they aim to find the precise genetic link for diabetes, ALS, heart
attacks, atherosclerosis, Lou Gerhrigs disease, parkinsons,
alzheimers, ALS, myasthenia gravis, even hypertension - all
these have genetic "markers". There's great new stuff coming
out of the genetic field and will continue to be - since medicine
may one day be based on altering these genetic markers before
you get the disease. Makes so much more sense. You won't
need to take drugs that affect the entire body with side effects
because the "cure" is corrected before you get the disease. I
can't wait to see what is coming in the future of medicine. No
doubt there will be a day when people look back at the way
we treat diseases now - and it will look as ricidulous as to put
leeches on a patient to get rid of the "bad blood".