Heart-Healthy Living Get Your Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Checked

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Two of the major risk factors for heart disease are high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol. If either of these numbers is high, work with your doctor to get it to a healthy range.

Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries artery (ARR-tuh-ree):
A blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the organs. Most arteries carry oxygenated blood. The pulmonary arteries carry deoxygenated blood away from the heart to the lungs. as your heart pumps blood. If this pressure rises and stays high over time, it can damage your heart and your blood vessels and lead to plaque plaque (Plak):
A substance made up of fat, cholesterol, calcium, and other substances found in the blood. In some cardiovascular diseases, plaque builds up and hardens in arteries. Plaque buildup reduces blood flow and makes it more likely that blood clots will form in the arteries. These blood clots can partially or completely block blood flow and oxygen delivery to the heart, brain, kidneys, or legs, arms, or pelvis. buildup.

Most adults should have their blood pressure checked at least once a year. If you have high blood pressure, you will likely need to be checked more often. Talk with your provider about how often you should have your blood pressure checked.

Your provider will measure your blood pressure to see if it is higher than is recommended. The reading is made up of two numbers, with the systolic systolic (sis-TOL-ik):
The phase of circulation when the heart pumps and the pressure of blood against the vessels is highest. number above the diastolic diastolic (DY-uh-stol-ik):
The phase of circulation when the heart fills and the pressure of blood against the vessels is lowest. number. These numbers are measures of pressure in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg).

Your blood pressure is considered high when you have consistent systolic readings of 140 mm Hg or higher or diastolic readings of 90 mm Hg or higher. Based on research, your provider may also consider you to have high blood pressure if you are an adult or child age 13 or older who has consistent systolic readings of 130 to 139 mm Hg or diastolic readings of 80 to 89 mm Hg and you have other risk factors for heart disease.

If your blood pressure is high, your provider will suggest lifestyle changes and may prescribe medicines.

You can track your blood pressure progress with our Tracking Your Numbers worksheet and bring it with you whenever you have your blood pressure taken.

WORKSHEET

Tracking Your Numbers

Track your blood pressure progress with the Tracking Your Numbers worksheet.

Download the worksheet

High blood cholesterol is a condition in which your blood has unhealthy levels of cholesterol—a waxy, fat-like substance.

Many factors affect your cholesterol levels. For example, age, sex, eating patterns, and physical activity level can affect your cholesterol levels. Children also can have unhealthy cholesterol levels, especially if they have overweight or obesity or their parents have high blood cholesterol.

A blood test can show whether your cholesterol levels are healthy. Talk with your provider about having your cholesterol tested and how often you need it tested. Your cholesterol numbers will include total cholesterol, “bad”  LDL cholesterol LDL cholesterol (…koh-LES-teh-rol):
Sometimes called the "bad" cholesterol because high LDL levels cause cholesterol to build up in arteries. High blood cholesterol increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease.  and “good”  HDL cholesterol HDL cholesterol (...koh-LES-the-rol):
Sometimes called the "good" cholesterol, because it returns cholesterol to the liver for removal from the body. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is found in all the cells of the body. , and triglycerides triglyceride (try-GLIH-suh-ride):
A type of fat or lipid. It is made of fatty acids and glycerides. These fats are found in lipoproteins, which transport the fats in the blood to parts of the body. These fats are stored in adipose tissue. . Ask your provider what these numbers mean for you.

If you have unhealthy cholesterol levels, your provider may suggest the lifestyle changes discussed in this topic. If heart-healthy lifestyle changes alone are not enough, your provider may prescribe a statin or other medicine to help manage your cholesterol levels.

Booklet

Your Guide to Lowering Cholesterol With Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC)

The TLC guide is a set of tools, including lifestyle changes and sample menus, you can use to help lower your cholesterol.

View the booklet