American Heart Assocation changes blood pressure guidelines

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Earlier this month, The American Heart Association established new guidelines for high blood pressure—also referred to as hypertension. 

The new guidelines lower the threshold for stage one hypertension to 130/80 and provides new lifestyle recommendations. 

One of the biggest changes is lowering the recommended amount of alcohol consumption. 

It’s now recommended that you avoid alcohol altogether—or limit your daily intake to one drink per day for women, and two per day for men. 

Novant Health Cardiologist Dr. Frederick Meine says exercise also plays an important role in managing your blood pressure. 

“Daily exercise, and I always tell patients you don’t have to climb Mount Everest, but I need 30 minutes of exercise every day,” he explained. “And to be honest, what we’ve seen with exercise is a lot of times that fixes a bunch of the other problems we have that cause hypertension.” 

Meine also recommends getting an at home blood pressure monitor to keep track of your blood pressure outside of the doctor’s office.