Blood Pressure Categories

Two numbers from a cuff at your doctor's office can say a lot about your heart. This calculator takes your systolic pressure (the top number, measured when the heart beats) and your diastolic pressure (the bottom number, measured between beats) and sorts the reading into the categories defined by the American Heart Association. Normal is below 120 over 80. Elevated covers 120 to 129 with a diastolic under 80. Stage 1 hypertension spans 130 to 139 systolic or 80 to 89 diastolic. Stage 2 starts at 140 over 90. Anything above 180 over 120 is a hypertensive crisis that needs emergency care.

Beyond the category, the tool computes two numbers clinicians watch closely. Mean arterial pressure, roughly your diastolic plus one-third of the pulse pressure, reflects the average pressure driving blood to your organs — values around 70 to 100 mmHg are typical. Pulse pressure, the simple gap between systolic and diastolic, hints at arterial stiffness when it runs wide.

Say your home cuff shows 138 over 86 after a stressful morning commute into Manhattan. That lands in Stage 1, which is exactly the kind of borderline reading worth tracking over weeks, not judging from one sitting. This calculator is an educational guide, not a diagnosis. Blood pressure varies through the day, and only a healthcare professional can interpret your readings in context.