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High blood pressure

Technically referred to as hypertension, it's a chronic condition in which the blood pressure in the blood vessels is elevated, or higher than normal. High blood pressure requires the heart to work harder than normal to circulate blood through the body, leading to a variety of medical symptoms. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and diastolic, which depend on whether the heart muscle is contracting (systole) or relaxed (diastole) between beats. Normal blood pressure is at or below 120/80 mmHg. High blood pressure is said to be present if it is persistently at or above 140/90 mmHg.