Is it really going to hurt you in the long run if you stay up an extra hour, take another forkful of (occasional) cake, or put off working on that big project for just one more hour?
Chances are the answer is no — provided you’re sleeping well, making healthy dietary choices, and managing your time effectively most of the time.
But what about when your doctor discovers that your blood pressure is borderline high? This is known as prehypertension, and it isn’t something you should let slide.
At One Health Medical Care in Reston, Virginia, Dr. Mingliarti Tjahjana and our team provide expert care for patients with high blood pressure. We follow the latest research and most up-to-date blood pressure guidelines, which have undergone recent changes — there was a major revision to hypertension guidance in 2017.
Dr. Tjahjana is dedicated to educating you about hypertension, monitoring your blood pressure closely, and offering expert advice about how best to treat your high blood pressure levels — or prehypertension, if you’re on the edge of having high blood pressure.
Doctors often talk about knowing your numbers — meaning you should be aware of your weight, body mass index (BMI), blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure, because they’re vital health metrics.
Fortunately, if you enter into a “danger zone” with one of them, you can usually make changes to support improved short- and long-term health, like losing weight, making dietary changes, and exercising more.
You might wonder what your blood pressure reading actually measures. Blood pressure refers to the rate of force that your blood puts on the walls of your arteries as it circulates throughout your body.
High blood pressure poses danger because too much prolonged force of your blood’s impact on your arterial walls damages them and puts you at risk for a range of serious conditions, including:
The seriousness of these conditions and the risks they pose are why it’s critically important to check your blood pressure during your annual wellness exams and monitor it if it’s inching up.
Hypertension is often dubbed “the silent killer” because it typically causes no obvious symptoms — which is why getting regular readings is crucial to your health.
Most people are familiar with getting their blood pressure tested with an arm cuff and stethoscope, and your measurement is expressed with two numbers.
Your systolic blood pressure is the top number, and it measures the pressure in your blood vessels as your heart pumps. Your diastolic pressure, the lower number, measures blood pressure between heartbeats.
We measure blood pressure in millimeters of mercury (mmHg), which follows the numbers on your systolic and diastolic readings.
A blood pressure reading of 120 mmHg/80 mmHg or lower is considered healthy. Anything higher indicates that your body is being overtaxed by the work of circulating your blood.
If a person’s blood pressure ranges from 120-139 mmHg/80-89 mmHg, this is considered prehypertension, or borderline high blood pressure. While not alarmingly high, it’s not ideal either.
Approximately one in three people are living with prehypertension, and it’s concerning because already, they’re at two to three times greater risk for heart failure, heart attack, stroke, and other concerning conditions.
Unfortunately, research shows that many who develop prehypertension go on to develop hypertension within three to four years.
It’s critical to address prehypertension by enacting lifestyle changes to reverse it, before it becomes full-blown hypertension. Dr. Tjahjana recommends that people diagnosed with prehypertension make these lifestyle adjustments:
Dr. Tjahjana may also prescribe medication to help lower your blood pressure if these changes don’t go far enough. She also discusses strong contributing factors for hypertension you may not be aware of, like being Black, having a family history of high blood pressure, and having a sleep disorder like sleep apnea.
Don’t delay in finding out where you stand with your blood pressure. If you’re diagnosed with prehypertension, Dr. Tjahjana is here to help you lower it. Call 571-572-9198 to reach One Health Medical Care in Reston, Virginia, today, or use our online booking feature to schedule a visit at your convenience.
