Measuring blood pressure and body composition

Why do we measure blood pressure and why is it relevant to each of us?

The pressure of blood in the arteries rises and falls with contraction and relaxation of the heart. The machines we use measure the peak (systolic) pressure and the low point (the diastolic) A typical value would be 120 for the systolic and 80 for the diastolic, written 120/80 and spoken as "one twenty over eighty".
High blood pressure can damage blood vessels leading to heart disease, stroke and poor circulation in the legs.
'Normal' blood pressure is hard to define but we are trying to keep everyone's BP less than 150/90.
A person's blood pressure can be very variable. Stress can put it up briefly. Just having it measured, even by a familiar doctor, can put it up so we don't usually diagnose high blood pressure until we have readings on three separate occasions. We now encourage people to buy machines of their own because we feel that readings taken at home are often more accurate than readings taken in the surgery.
We rarely find a treatable cause for high blood pressure (hypertension). About five or six out of a hundred people will have kidney problems and one in a hundred will have a hormonal problem.
Losing weight, taking regular exercise and cutting down on alcohol all help but many people need a combination of three or even four drugs to get blood pressure down. Many tablets have side effects but we can usually find a combination that suits the patient and works.
Most people with high blood pressure will need blood tests done every year or so to check on their kidneys and other things which may be relevant such as blood sugar and cholesterol.

http://www.westernroad.co.uk/blood.htm