Diagnosis of High Blood Pressure

Do I have High Blood Pressure?

When you or your doctor takes your blood pressure, two numbers are generated, a larger number, the systolic blood pressure (SBP), and a smaller number, the diastolic blood pressure (DBP), written as SBP/DBP or 120/80, for example. How do you know if yours is too high? The numbers have been clearly defined. These are the various categories that you might fall into. Remember that you should use the higher category to determine your particular level. For example, if you have normal systolic blood pressure but a diastolic blood pressure that puts you at stage 1 high blood pressure (HBP), you are considered to have stage 1 high blood pressure.

Here is the classification for blood pressure for adults:

The symbol < means "less than". The + means "and higher".