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On Nov. 13, a panel of leading health care associations, including the American Heart Association, published new criteria for classifying high blood pressure, the first such change since 2003. Instead of saying that a reading of 140/90 mmHg—i.e. the pressure in your vessels as the heart is pumping over the pressure between beats—high blood pressure will now be defined as 130/80. (Normal blood pressure is considered under 120/80.)
Previously, roughly 32% of Americans (73 million) were considered to have high blood pressure. Now that jumps to 46%, or 103 million people. The change doubles the number of women with high blood pressure and triples the number of men, according to the AP.