Blood pressure...help plz!!?

Question

it's 140/63 a normal value for a 20-y-old man??

i reckon that possibly 140 is a bit high but i'm not a doctor..it was the value of my blood pressure on my recent medical.. if so, what can be the cause(s)?and most importantly, is it possible to correct it (without drugs or medicaments?)?

thanks a lot for your help

10 points 4 best answer!

Answer 1

Hey calm down, no worries.  No one should be upset or overly concerned about 1 reading of their blood pressure.  Take your blood pressure several times in a week and see if it is always that high, (p.s. that's not really that high).  If it is consistently in the 130-140 range then you may consider eating healthier, (cut down red meat and fried food) start eating more bran and vegetables.  If you don't exercise take up exercising.  If you smoke then quit and quit now. and if it continues to stay above 120 -130 you may want to talk to a Dr., but noting your age and the fact that it is not 180 or something I doubt that they would begin medication unless you have a bad family history. (everybody's blood pressure changes constantly during the day by more than 10-20 pts.

Answer 2

I'm a doc. Your systolic blood pressure of 140 is high. It's considered stage I Hypertension. However, one blood pressure reading does not make you a person with high blood pressure. You need at least two different blood pressure measurements separated by several weeks to diagnose you. Even then, some people have something called "white coat hypertension"--they get nervous with docs and their blood pressure goes up. The way you could check is check your own blood pressure at home in the morning.

Technique is very important as well. If you contract your arm while the bp is being checked, then this would falsely elevate the bp reading.  

Also, several other things could affect your pressure: stress (someone cut you off while driving), caffeine (coffee, tea), obesity (your pressure will go up about 3-5 points for every 10 lbs over your ideal body wt), hereditary (if your parents had high blood pressure at an early age, then you will too).

However, at 20 years of age you should NOT have high blood pressure. This is abnormal. If, in fact, you are diagnosed with high blood pressure, I would recommend that they check you out for secondary metabolic or cardiovascular abnormalities (pheochromocytoma, addison's disease, cushings disease, coarctation of the aorta, renal artery stenosis, etc). It's important that you follow up with your doc about this.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

120/80 is normal

Answer 4

Unfortunately you rarely hear how to correct a problem except with medications.

First, get it tested again once or twice a day over 3 or 4 days. If that's not practical, just try to get several readings.

To help keep your blood pressure down, get enough rest, and plenty of exercise, at LEAST 30 minutes a day. Drink lots of water. No caffeine in the afternoons seems to help me. I have found it's easiest to drink water in the afternoon, get a couple of pints in.

The bottom number looks good, so the top one was probably a fluke. Also, after you sit down to get it read, chill out for a few minutes.

Your state of mind can affect it a lot too. I can drop my top number below 110 just by relaxing. Now I can get it under 110 in less than a minute by focusing and taking some deep breaths.