Explanation

Blood pressure is the pressure made by the beating of your heart. Your doctor can find out a lot of useful information about your heart and your blood vessels by taking your blood pressure. Maximum and minimum blood pressure are both measured.

The systolic pressure is the maximum pressure in an artery at the moment when your heart is beating and pumping blood through your body. The diastolic pressure is the lowest pressure in an artery in the moments between beats when your heart is resting.

Both the systolic and diastolic pressure measurements are important. If either one is high, it means you have high blood pressure, which is also called hypertension.