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(NBC News) – A new study reveals that two-digit blood pressure predicts a person's risk of heart attack and stroke.
The findings challenge the long-held belief that only systolic blood pressure, the highest number, affects heart health.
Systolic blood pressure (top number) measures the force with which the heart pumps blood into the arteries.
The diastolic blood pressure (bottom number) indicates the pressure on the arteries when the heart rests between beats.
Kaiser Permanente researchers examined 36 million blood pressure readings from more than one million people.
They found that although systolic pressure had a greater impact, both figures strongly influenced the risk of heart attack or stroke.
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