If you have been diagnosed with heart disease or diabetes or simply high blood pressure, chances are your doctor has advised you to take weekly or daily blood pressure readings with a home blood pressure monitor. But how do we know these readings are accurate? And furthermore, what do those two numbers even mean?

For a quick definition, Harvard Health explains that the top number (systolic pressure) measures artery pressure at the instant the heart beats (when the heart contracts), while the bottom number (diastolic pressure) tracks the pressure between heartbeats (when the heart is resting). They also share the latest normal and high blood pressure guidelines from the Journal of the American Medical Association:

Among adults age 60 and older with high blood pressure, aim for a target blood pressure under 150/90
Among adults age 30 to 59 with high blood pressure, … Read More »