My family has a serious history with high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I just got back from my anal checkup every year and had a blood pressure of: 120/100 is this normal? what is the "average"?
of course this is not normal. 120 in systolic is normal. but the 100 in diastolic is 20 mmHg higher than normal. you better start to eat healthy and get regular exercise and reduce your daily stress. if that can't control it, take some medication.
No, 120/100 is not normal. The lower number, diastolic is a little too high. Even though the normal blood pressure reading <120/80, many people, without hypertension may have a few readings above this number at any given time. However, if you go to the physician's office on TWO separate times and still have numbers >120/80, you are hypertensive if any of the 2 numbers >140/90, or pre-hypertensive if any of the numbers >120/80. Some physicians will start you on meds if you are pre-hypertensive, some won't. It depends on your family history, physical exam, situation, etc. BTW, many people will always associate high blood pressure with feeling "abnormal"...dizziness, headache, etc. This is a very dangerous association as most people with high blood pressure won't even feel a thing until it get's over 180-200. I just had a person at my pharmacy with a 230/120 and felt "normal". His wife told me his readings in a 5 day period ranged from 190-200/100-120. I referred him to the ER immediately and told him to double up on his blood pressure meds.
120/100 is definitely not normal -- but it could be a bad reading. The pulse gap is too small. Normally systolic pressure is about 40 mm Hg higher than diastolic pressure. Go get your BP checked again. Buy a BP monitor and check if often if you have a family history of hypertension.
You only need an anal blood pressure check if you are in prison. And even then, does it really matter? Just go with the flow.
