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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffSlightly elevated blood pressure is known as prehypertension. Prehypertension will likely turn into high blood pressure (hypertension) if you don't make lifestyle changes, such as start exercising and eating healthier. Both prehypertension and high blood pressure increase your risk of heart attack, stroke and heart failure.
A blood pressure reading has two numbers. The first, or upper, number measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats (systolic pressure). The second, or lower, number measures the pressure in your arteries between beats (diastolic pressure). Prehypertension is a systolic pressure from 120 to 139 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or a diastolic pressure from 80 to 89 mm Hg.
Weight loss, exercise and other healthy lifestyle changes can often control prehypertension — and set the stage for a lifetime of better health.
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- What are high blood pressure and prehypertension? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp/hbp/whathbp.htm. Accessed April 8, 2010.
- Liszka HA, et al. Prehypertension and cardiovascular morbidity. Annals of Family Medicine. 2005;3:294.
- Green L. Prehypertension, patient outcomes, and the knowledge base of family medicine. Annals of Family Medicine. 2005;3:292.
- Chobanian AV, et al. Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. Hypertension. 2003;42:1206.
- Schunkert H. Pharmacotherapy for prehypertension — Mission accomplished? New England Journal of Medicine. 2006;354:1742.
- Julius S, et al. Feasibility of treating prehypertension with an angiotensin-receptor blocker. New England Journal of Medicine. 2006;354:1685.
- Karanja N, et al. Acceptability of sodium-reduced research diets, including the dietary approaches to stop hypertension diet, among adults with prehypertension and stage 1 hypertension. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 2007;107:1530.
- Maruthur NM, et al. Lifestyle interventions reduce coronary heart disease risk: Results from the PREMIER trial. Circulation. 2009;119:2026.
- Pimenta E, et al. Prehypertension: Epidemiology, consequences and treatment. Nature Review Nephrology. 2010;6:21.
- Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/DGAs2010-PolicyDocument.htm. Accessed Feb. 18, 2011.
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