How is blood pressure measured?

How is blood pressure measured?

We measure the blood pressure at two times. We measure it when the heart beats; we call that systoli, or the systolic blood pressure, that's the top number of the blood pressure, and when the heart is in between beats, we call that diastoli, so we measure the diastolic blood pressure, or the lower number. If your blood pressure is really normal, it should be less than 120 over 80. Any blood pressure between 120 to 139 is in an area where we talk about and call it pre-hypertension. That means you have the chance of developing high blood pressure, or hypertension, and likewise for the bottom number, if the bottom number is anything between 80 and 89, you have pre-hypertension.