Blood Pressure Checker

Common blood pressure readings

The same reading can have a different label in the UK and US. These comparisons use the checker's UK clinic-style chart bands and American Heart Association categories.

A category is not a diagnosis

The higher category of the two numbers determines the chart label. The UK clinic threshold for hypertension is 140 systolic or 90 diastolic; the US stage 1 category starts at 130 systolic or 80 diastolic. These are adult categories, not individual treatment targets.

NICE uses a lower threshold of 135 systolic or 85 diastolic for an average of home or daytime ambulatory measurements, alongside raised clinic measurements. An isolated reading is not the same as that average.