Brief Answer:
Both are important in someone your age.

Detailed Answer:
Both of your blood pressure numbers are a little high.

The systolic blood pressure (the number on the top) should ideally be 120 or less.

Systolic pressure is the highest pressure in your arteries when your heart is contracting and forcing the blood around your body. Having a high systolic blood pressure puts someone at greater risk for a stroke, if it is quite high, or if it is a little high over a long time. Also increases the risk of heart attacks.

The diastolic blood pressure (the number on the bottom) should ideally be 80 or less.

Diastolic pressure is the "resting" pressure in your arteries when the heart is not contracting. It may be the more important number in people who are 40 yrs old or less.

Things you can do to help reduce your blood pressure are to reduce salt in your food, give up alcohol if you drink it (but don't give it up suddenly - reduce gradually), and if you are overweight, lose weight, and exercise. Stress can also make blood pressure higher, so attending to that if you can, will help.

If you have tried these things for a few months (approximately 3) and there is no decrease in your blood pressures, your doctor may want to increase your blood pressure medicine (Cozaar).

Please know that one reading of blood pressure is not an accurate picture. Only with multiple readings over time (at least 3, done on different days) can you know where you are at with your blood pressure.

Also, blood pressure fluctuates even from minute to minute. So if you happened to rush into your doctors office or were worried about seeing the doctor, your blood pressure may go up just temporarily. This is not a good measure of your overall blood pressure. For that reason, I often repeat taking a blood pressure at the end of an appointment with a patient if the first one was a little high. I also have patients take there blood pressure weekly over a few weeks to get a better idea of what is going on.

I hope that this answers your question and provides you with a better idea about blood pressure readings. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with on this subject.

If you are satisfied with this answer, you can go ahead and close the transaction and rate it.

Best regards,
Bonnie Berger-Durnbaugh, MD

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