Doctor 24/7: What is the standard blood pressure? Is it different for men and women?

'My blood pressure is 143/91 mmHg, is it high? Is there a difference in blood pressure index between men and women? Is high blood pressure related to blood sugar? Thank you, doctor!' (N.Quyen, in Ho Chi Minh City).

Specialist Doctor 1 Do Minh Son, 315 Health System (HCMC) answers: According to the Hypertension Association - Vietnam Cardiology Association, high blood pressure is defined as:

• Blood pressure measured at the clinic ≥ 140/90 mmHg.
• Self-measured blood pressure at home ≥ 135/85 mmHg.
• Average 24-hour blood pressure ≥ 130/80 mmHg.

With the information provided by Ms. Quyen, she may have high blood pressure. She should go to a reputable hospital or clinic to be examined and assessed for risk, from which the doctor will come up with a treatment plan.

Also according to the Vietnam Hypertension Association, normal blood pressure is when systolic blood pressure is 120 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure is 70 mmHg.

There is no concept of "standard blood pressure" for everyone.

Photo: AI

What is the standard blood pressure?

According to Dr. Son, what blood pressure is appropriate and safe for health? The answer is difficult because it depends on many factors such as age, constitution, living habits, exercise... For example, at a blood pressure level of 110/60 mmHg, some people feel healthy, others feel dizzy. Therefore, there is no concept of "standard blood pressure" for everyone, each person will have their own standard blood pressure level. In general, regardless of age, doctors recommend keeping systolic blood pressure around 110-120 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure 60-70 mmHg can be called "standard".

Physiological blood pressure (without hypertension) varies slightly by age and gender. The older you are, the higher your blood pressure will be, but it will still be within normal limits. Before the age of 50, men's blood pressure tends to be 5-10 mmHg higher than women's. After the age of 50, women's blood pressure tends to be higher than men's.

Is high blood pressure related to blood sugar?

Dr. Son said that high blood pressure (hypertension) and high blood sugar (diabetes) are two separate health problems with different disease mechanisms. Hypertension is a vascular disease, while diabetes is a metabolic disease. Hypertension is not a direct cause of diabetes, but only a risk factor for diabetes.

In fact, some studies show that people with high blood pressure or diabetes will have a risk of developing the remaining disease twice as much as normal people. The reason is that when suffering from high blood pressure, long-term changes in the body will create conditions for the development of diabetes. Therefore, high blood pressure is considered an independent risk factor for diabetes.

In addition, high blood pressure and diabetes share common risk factors, which are:

• Obesity.
• Smoking.
• Sedentary
• Drink a lot of alcohol and beer.
• Dyslipidemia

When we have the above risk factors, we will have a high risk of cardiovascular disease (specifically high blood pressure) and diabetes. Because we have the same risk factors, in reality we can easily see people with both diseases at the same time, and think that one disease causes the other.

In short, high blood pressure is not a direct cause of high blood sugar. But when we have high blood pressure, it will increase the risk of high blood sugar in the future, and vice versa, especially when accompanied by the above risk factors.

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Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bac-si-24-7-huet-ap-bao-nhieu-la-chuan-nam-va-nu-co-khac-nhau-18525112609302574.htm