The American Heart Association has announced new blood pressure guidelines.

What does this mean for you?

Usually, when new guidelines for blood pressure are announced, what is really happening is that the bar is being lowered to make more people who were healthy a minute ago be hypertensive now.

I call it “The Patient-ification” of healthy Americans.

By the prior guidelines, you would be diagnosed with hypertension (high blood pressure) if you got readings (usually three consecutive, but I have heard of someone being handed a prescription for Norvasc after one high reading) of 140/90 or higher. Now the guidelines have dropped the range to allow doctors to diagnose you with hypertension if your blood pressure reading is higher than 130/80. Seriously, now “nearly half of American adults” will be considered to have high blood pressure. Keep reading