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Article: Check with doctor on stopping blood pressure medication.
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- September 24, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Q. Does a person have to take high blood pressure medication for life?
A. Not necessarily, and we'll get to that in a minute.
Your blood pressure is the pressure created against blood vessel walls as the heart pumps and rests. The higher pressure generated by the pumping action is called systolic pressure. The lower pressure at rest is called diastolic pressure.
High blood pressure or hypertension is a reading of 140/90 or above on three separate occasions. About a third of people who register high blood pressure on a single reading will not have it the next time.
High blood pressure increases the risk of heart disease, heart attack, ...