What Diastolic Blood Pressure

This is the time when the heart fills with blood and gets oxygen.

What diastolic blood pressure. But even if your diastolic number is lower than 80 you can have elevated blood pressure if the systolic reading is 120 129. Low diastolic blood pressure is when the lower number in your blood pressure reading falls below 60 mm hg. The optimal blood pressure currently accepted is to have a blood pressure in the range of 120 80. A normal diastolic blood pressure is lower than 80.

You ll generally be diagnosed with high blood pressure if your systolic blood pressure reaches between 130 and 139 mm hg or if your diastolic blood pressure reaches between 80 and 89 mm hg. It measures the force of blood against your artery walls as your heart relaxes and the ventricles are allowed to refill with blood. Diastolic blood pressure is the measurement of blood pressure as the heart relaxes. The diastolic reading or the bottom number is the pressure in the arteries when the heart rests between beats.

After the heart is finished contracting the cardiac ventricles relax momentarily so that they can be refilled with blood in preparation for the next contraction. A normal healthy diastolic blood pressure should be between 70 and 80 mmhg while diastolic blood pressure numbers of 90 and higher can increase your risk for heart attack stroke and other health problems. Researchers are starting to give this condition more attention. The diastolic blood pressure is the pressure the blood exerts within the arteries in between heartbeats that is when the heart is not actively ejecting blood into the arteries.

Your diastolic blood pressure is the bottom number on your reading. We ll tell you why.