What is the Average Blood Pressure in the USA?
The idea of “high blood pressure,” referred to in medical terms as hypertension, has become synonymous with the idea of people losing their cool and experiencing chronic stress.
The realities of human physiology do support this popular association between high blood pressure and intense negative emotions. Being consistently stressed out, which means experiencing frequent activation of the sympathetic nervous system (i.e., the “fight or flight” response), can lead to, as well as worsen, elevated blood pressure.
This issue is a major public health problem, as elevated blood pressure increases one’s risk of experiencing serious health issues such as heart attack, stroke, aneurysm, kidney problems, and more.
Unfortunately, rates of both chronic stress and high blood pressure are quite high in the United States, as this article will explain in greater detail.
What is Considered Normal vs. Elevated Blood Pressure?
American Heart Association (AHA) and American College of Cardiology (ACA) Guidelines are as follows:
According to the American Heart Association (AHA) and American College of Cardiology (ACA), normal blood pressure for adults (also known as “ideal blood pressure”) is below 120/80 mm Hg. This means that a normal diastolic blood pressure is below 120 mm Hg, and a normal systolic blood pressure is below 80 mm Hg (more on what this means below).
In a case of “normal” blood pressure, the top number (systolic blood pressure) is typically from 120 to 129 mm Hg, and the bottom number (diastolic blood pressure) is below 80 mm Hg.
Stage 1 hypertension is a form of more severe high blood pressure in which the systolic blood pressure is 130 to 139 mm Hg and the diastolic blood pressure is 80 to 89 mm Hg.
Stage 2 hypertension is defined as a systolic blood pressure of 140 mm Hg or higher and a diastolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg or higher.
Finally, the most serious form of high blood pressure is a hypertensive emergency/crisis: where systolic pressure is above 180 mm Hg and diastolic pressure above 120 mm Hg. A hypertensive crisis requires immediate emergency medical intervention.
Breakdown of Systolic and Diastolic Blood Pressure
The systolic blood pressure is the top number, which indicates how much pressure blood applies to the arterial walls when the heart beats. The diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) reflects the pressure from blood pushing against the arterial walls is between heartbeats, when the heart is resting.
Although much of the research on hypertension has focused on the cardiovascular issues associated with elevated systolic blood pressure, high diastolic blood pressure is also a problem; this is true even in the absence of a high systolic blood pressure.
High Blood Pressure Rates in the United States
Current Statistics:
Since 2017, when a group of nine health professional organizations that included the AHA and the ACA updated the guidelines to lower the threshold defining high blood pressure from 140/90 to 130/80, 46 percent of all Americans had been considered to have high blood pressure.
Comparison to Global Rates
According to 2016 research by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, a billion people worldwide had high blood pressure in 2015, which is twice as many people as 40 years prior (more specifically, approximately 594 million people in 1975). Although these rates vary significantly by region, worldwide, the largest increases in high blood pressure rates during that span of time occurred in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
When comparing other regions’ rates to those of the US, the blood pressure numbers are in fact quite high, and the countries with the lowest high blood pressure rates include the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Peru, South Korea, and Singapore.
Factors Influencing Blood Pressure
Age
Blood pressure often increases with age. One reason for this is that the arteries tend to stiffen as people get older, causing the heart to pump harder and thereby increasing systolic blood pressure.
Gender
More men than women suffer from high blood pressure. An estimated 50 percent of all adult men and 38 percent of adult women in the United States have high blood pressure based on the most recently updated 2017 guidelines. However, these percentages change with age, with older women being more likely to develop high blood pressure than older men.
Lifestyle
Certain lifestyle choices may significantly contribute to increased blood pressure. These include eating too much salt, consuming too little potassium, lack of regular exercise, excessive alcohol consumption, high stress levels, lack of high-quality sleep, and smoking cigarettes. Socioeconomic factors such as poverty, childhood trauma, and job type (e.g., working early/late shifts) may also increase high blood pressure risk.
Medical Conditions
There are several chronic health conditions that are thought to contribute to high blood pressure by impacting the body’s regulation of fluid, sodium, and hormone levels in the blood. These conditions include kidney disease, metabolic syndrome, thyroid problems, diabetes, and sleep apnea.
Risks Associated with High Blood Pressure
Having high blood pressure can increase the risk of developing a range of serious health issues, including:
Cardiovascular Disease
The best known and most well-understood consequences of high blood pressure are those that impact the heart. These include atherosclerosis, heart attack, heart failure, and heart disease.
Stroke
When high blood pressure damages the arteries, this can increase the risk that the blood vessels that supply the brain with oxygenated blood may become blocked or burst, leading to a stroke.
Kidney Disease
Damage to the arteries surrounding the kidneys can make it more difficult for the kidneys to filter blood as they should, contributing to kidney disease or even kidney failure.
Achieving and Maintaining Healthy Blood Pressure
Lifestyle Changes (Diet, Exercise, Stress Reduction)
Just as certain lifestyle choices can contribute to high blood pressure, reversing those behaviors and substituting them with healthy lifestyle changes may help to lower blood pressure. This means making sure to get regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, eating healthy foods (i.e., reducing consumption of foods that are high in sodium and saturated fat), refraining from smoking cigarettes, limiting alcohol consumption, and getting plenty of sleep each night.
Monitoring Blood Pressure Levels
Since high blood pressure may have no symptoms at all, it’s important to check your blood pressure on a regular basis. Checking your pressure is a normal part of routine doctor’s appointments, but you can also check your blood pressure at a pharmacy with a digital blood pressure measurement machine, or even at home with your own blood pressure monitor.
The Best Blood Pressure Support Supplement: Body Kitchen Blood Pressure Balance
Consider taking a high-quality supplement that’s formulated to support the body’s ability to regulate blood pressure and overall heart health. Body Kitchen’s Blood Pressure Balance supplement fits the bill. It’s designed to not only to help support healthy blood pressure levels but also to support normal cholesterol levels, since both are important for cardiovascular wellness.
Blood Pressure Balance incorporates bioavailable plant compounds in the form of patented Pomanox® pomegranate extract and MegaNatural®-BP grape seed extract. Each two-capsule dose also provides 125 mg of magnesium in the form of dimagnesium malate, which may support the body’s essential nitric oxide production while possibly helping the blood vessels to relax.
Speak With a Doctor Before Taking Any Supplements
Before adding any new supplement to your regimen, including Body Kitchen’s Blood Pressure balance, it’s essential to speak with a doctor to confirm that it’s a good fit for your needs and that there are no major interactions with your existing health conditions or medications. For instance, magnesium may bind to some prescription medications and prevent them from being fully absorbed.