Almost every time you go to the doctor’s office, they will measure your blood pressure and give you two numbers. For example: 120/80. The top number represents the systolic blood pressure and the bottom number represents the diastolic blood pressure. If your blood pressure is constantly 140/90 or higher, you may have hypertension. This condition may lead to coronary heart disease, heart attack, stroke, brain damage and loss of vision.

High blood pressure can be treated with medications—such as diuretics, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers—as well as lifestyle changes. For instance, if you are overweight, loosing the excess weight may be the best treatment for your hypertension. Anything that helps your heart is also recommended—exercise and a balanced diet (less fat and salty food; more fiber, fruits and vegetables).

While on treatment, blood pressure has to be monitored to check the progress. The objective is to bring the systolic pressure below 120 and the diastolic pressure below 80. You can use an aneroid monitor to measure your blood pressure. These monitors include an arm cuff with a built-in stethoscope to hear your heartbeat.  Some models have a D-ring cuff that can be put on with one hand—making it easy to take your own blood pressure.

After putting on the cuff, place the ear pieces of the stethoscope in your ears and the disk on the inner side of the crease of your elbow. Then, squeeze the bulb rapidly to inflate the cuff up to 40 points above your last systolic reading. Deflate the cuff slowly by loosening the valve a little at a time and listen to your heartbeat— read the pointer in the gauge at the first sound to know your systolic pressure. When you stop hearing the heartbeat, look at the gauge—this is the diastolic pressure. Write down the numbers, putting the systolic reading in front of the diastolic reading in this way: 140/90