If you have high blood pressure and nothing else, a pressure of 140/90 is OK. If you have anything else—diabetes, artery disease, heart disease, age over 60, or kidney disease—your blood pressure should be 130/80 or less. High blood pressure is the most important modifiable risk factor for stroke. Lowering blood pressure by just 5 points on the bottom number reduces the risk of stroke by an estimated 34% and heart artery disease by 21% from any pre-treatment level; there is no threshold. If you have high blood pressure with any other related disease, make sure your blood pressure is 130/80 or less. It is one of the most protective things you can do to live a longer, healthier life.
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As usual, what Bestermann says is interesting and powerful. At the 95% level, high blood pressure is curable. With 50 years of being a cardiologist, the "safe space" for blood pressure is much closer to 110-115/60-70 while on no medication. When the patient is treated with medication, I prefer just about 125/80 in order to minimize risk. Finally, it needs to be said, that at the 95% level like high cholesterol, high triglycerides, and diabetes, high blood pressure is curable. HBP can be made to happen and IT can be made to unhappen. H. Robert Silverstein, MD, FACC