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Medical terms explained
Medical terms explained
Blood pressure is made up of 2 measurements, one taken when your heart is beating and pumping blood (known as systolic blood pressure) and another taken when your heart is filling up with blood between beats (known as diastolic blood pressure). It is measured in millimetres of mercury (which is written as mmHg) and is recorded as systolic blood pressure over diastolic blood pressure, for example 140/90 mmHg.