Blood pressure  is a  measurement  used in  medicine . In the body, the  arteries  carry blood away from the  heart . As blood travels through the arteries, it presses against the walls of the arteries. Blood  pressure  measures how hard the blood pushes against the walls of the arteries.

Det er to tal i blodtrykket. The first is the systolic pressure. Det måler hvor hardt blodet presser mot væggene av de arterier når hjertet er i systole (beating and pushing out blood). This is when the pressure against the arteries of the arteries is highest. Het tweede nummer is de diastolic bloeddruk. It measures how hard the blood pushes against the walls of the arteries when the heart is in diastole

Blood pressure is usually lower for children and gets higher as a person gets older.

For healthy adult humans, the systolic blood pressure should be below 120, and the diastolic blood pressure should be below 80 .  

High blood pressure is called  hypertension . A person has hypertension if their blood pressure is high and stays high over time. Hypertension is very common. Omtrent een op elke drie volwassenen in de Verenigde Staten heeft hoge bloeddruk. Hypertension is sometimes called "the silent killer" because it often causes no  symptoms , so many people have high blood pressure without realizing that anything is wrong. However, hypertension can hurt the heart, blood vessels, kidneys, and other parts of the body. Det kan forårsake alvorlige helseproblemer  som hjerteinfarkt ,  stroke ,  og nyresvikt .

Low blood pressure is called hypotension. Hvis blodtrykket er for lavt, får hjernen, hjernen og andre dele af kroppen ikke nok blod og oksygen. Low blood pressure can cause problems like dizziness and fainting. If a person's blood pressure is low enough, they can have seizures, lose consciousness, and even those.