The first step to dealing with high blood pressure is understanding your blood pressure measurement — those over and under numbers. When you know what your blood pressure is, you need to know what to do next. The good news is, you may be able to prevent high blood pressure or reduce your blood pressure by making some lifestyle changes.

Hypertension can be serious when not treated properly, but for most people it’s a very manageable condition. The best way to manage hypertension is by setting long-term goals rather than focusing on nonexistent quick fixes. In this article, we share the 10 best lifestyle changes you can make to create optimal health and lower your blood pressure.

Blood pressure isn't the same during a pregnancy as before the pregnancy. The pregnant woman's body goes through many changes to provide the best possible environment for the growing fetus. The mother-to-be must sustain the placenta, the umbilical cord (the connection between the mother and the fetus), and the fetus itself with nutrition and fluid.

Plenty of drugs are on the market that actually raise blood pressure on their own or because they block the action of a drug that lowers blood pressure. If you can possibly avoid them, do so. Sometimes, however, the problem that makes you need the other drug is so severe that you can't avoid it. You then have to use the drugs for high blood pressure to overcome the blood pressure elevation of the essential drug.

Salt, which is made up of 40 percent sodium and 60 percent chloride, is critical to your life. You can't live without it. Sodium helps to maintain your blood's water content, serves to balance the acids and bases in your blood, and is necessary for the movement of electrical charges in the nerves that move our muscles.

Your blood pressure can be taken with a mercury blood pressure gauge, an aneroid manometer, or an electronic device for measuring the blood pressure, as long as the device has been recently calibrated and validated. With rare exceptions, blood pressure gauges found in supermarkets or pharmacies aren't properly maintained and shouldn't be used.

Caffeine is a chemical compound in the leaves, seeds, and fruits of more than 63 plant species, but it most commonly comes from coffee and cocoa beans, cola nuts, and tea leaves. But coffee isn't the only source of caffeine — a can of cola contains 45 mg, green tea has 30 mg, an ounce of chocolate has 20 mg, and even Anacin comes in at 65 mg for two tablets.