Blood pressure questions?

I went to the doctor today and had a blood pressure of 120/100. Im a little concerned, even though the doctor said for my age(25) he wouldn't worry. Are those numbers REALLY bad? Also, my mother, who is 46, was diagnosed with coronary artery disease, and had open heart surgery 5 months ago, and stents put in 2 weeks ago(the open heart surgery failed). Now, my total cholesterol was 168 with LDL being 99 and HDL being 39. And triglycerides being 166. Are those risk factors for CAD? Or is my HDL not TOO low?

I just want to add that last year my cholesterol was high, my HDL was 70 which is good, right? But my LDL was 138. I did bring it down a bit. I am also a bit overweight and was diagnosed with Mitral Valve prolapse with regurgitation.

You obviously keep up with all the numbers, you know what yours are and what the "normal" parameters should be. That's good, but it can also contribute to "white coat test syndrome" meaning that your blood pressure may elevate when tested by a professional. Buy a home blood pressure monitor and test your own at home. Keep records and when you go to the doctor, take both your monitor and the records with you. Test your monitor against the nurse's blood pressure reading while in the office. All the numbers you listed were good to not bad except for the "high" 100 diastolic BP reading and the "low" HDL. Remember all the numbers are subject to change depending on time of testing and circumstances--stress and recent diet. Lose the extra weight and engage in an exercise program that meets your doctor's approval. Above all, don't worry--it'll do more heart damage than any of those test numbers.

Go to a different doctor. 120/100 is enough cause for concern at your age...the bottom number is too high, and the two numbers are too close. A magnesium supplement may help this some, but I would definitely schedule a second opinion.

first off this doctor should be concerned. Of course you need to take your blood pressure when your not in the Dr's office either. Go to Walgreen's to three times a week for a couple of weeks and see what it is there. I would bet your just nervous. But if it's still high out the office. The new parameters are 110/70 by the way. Than two things to do.
-First what do you eat? Eating fast food three to four times weekly like i used to do is not good. Some nutritionist say never eat it. I can recommend once or twice a month not to be to bad. When at home make healthier choices for snacks as well as eating also. Go on-line and figure out some good low fat snacks and low fat ways to eat. Also watch the amount of food intake. Most Americans just eat way too much anyway.
-Second and the hardest is what almost everybody should do anyway, including me. Exercise more. I am not talking about training like an Olympic athlete or even joining a gym. It could be as simple as taking a fast walk three four times a week. A good fast past walk 30 - 40 minutes long is extremely beneficial to the body. Or even better if your close to enough to walk to work. Stroll to work and power walk home.

Hello,

I'm sorry to hear that your mum has been unwell & hope that she is on the mend.

If you were a little anxious when you saw your doctor, this would temporarily have pushed your blood pressure up. Your doctor is probably aware that you are worried about your mum as well and taken that into account. As you are really only on the high side of normal, not worrying is probably the best advice. The 120 is fine but the 100 could do with dropping a little bit.

You can buy blood pressure monitors quite cheaply now. I think you should invest in one & see if your blood pressure is lower when you're sat at home.

You say that you are slightly overweight & perhaps a few small changes to your diet would be all you need. I am 31 & my blood pressure was higher than yours last year. I have brought mine back to normal by cutting out caffine & increasing the amount of fruit & vegetables I eat (I've also lost about 8lb in weight which came as a result).

I'd also recommend the British Heart Foundation website. They have lots of tips and advice which I think you would find helpful & might also help to reassure you.

Hope this helps.x

The first thing that strikes me is that your pulse pressure (difference between systolic [first no.]and diastolic [2nd no.] is extremely low. This suggests that you may have atherosclerosis (narrowing of arteries) although if your mum is in 40s you must be very young. Is there any other ischaemic heart disease in the family? eg siblings, grandparents or uncles, cousins, aunts, etc. having heart attack or angina below 50? In that case there may be a family history of dyslipidaemia (abnormal blood lipids) .

I am not familiar with the figures for the lipids you have given. (are you in USA?), so I cannot comment because of different units in UK.

My advice would be to see a cardiologist soon.

http://www.americanvistas.com/index.html

http://www.keep-cholesterol-control.com/...