To determine your blood pressure, two values have to be measured:

• SYS – systolic (upper) blood pressure – this is generated when the heart contracts and blood is pumped into the blood vessels.
• DIA – diastolic (lower) blood pressure – this is produced when the heart relaxes and fills up with blood again.

The measured values for blood pressure are displayed in mmHg.

To better evaluate the results, Veroval^® blood pressure monitors offer a traffic light colour system that directly describes the results to enable easier categorisation of the measured value. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) & European Society of Hypertension (ESH) have developed the following summary for classifying blood pressure values:

Results indicator	Evaluation	Systolic pressure		Diastolic pressure
Red	Grade 3 hypertension	above 179 mmHg	and/or	above 109 mmHg
Orange	Grade 2 hypertension	160 - 179 mmHg	and/or	100 - 109 mmHg
Yellow	Grade 1 hypertension	140 - 159 mmHg	and/or	90 - 99 mmHg
Green	High normal	130 - 139 mmHg	and/or	85 - 89 mmHg
Green	Normal	120 - 129 mmHg	and/or	80 - 84 mmHg
Green	Optimal	up to 119 mmHg	and	up tp 79 mmHg

• Established hypertension (high blood pressure) is defined as having a systolic value of at least 140 mmHg and/or a diastolic value of at least 90 mmHg.
• Generally, blood pressure is described as being too low (hypotension) when the blood pressure value is less than 105 mmHg (systolic) and 60 mmHg (diastolic). However, the threshold between normal and low blood pressure (hypotension) is not as accurately specified as the threshold for high blood pressure (hypertension). Hypotension may be indicated by symptoms such as dizziness, tiredness, tendency to faint, visual disorders or a high pulse rate. In order to ensure that hypotension or the associated symptoms are not signs of a serious illness, a doctor should be consulted in the event of doubt.

Initially, high blood pressure does not cause any symptoms, and those affected do not even notice. That means that most of those affected do not even know that they belong to this patient group. The danger is that if blood pressure is permanently too high, there is an increased risk of damage to vital organs such as the heart, kidneys and eyes. Regular measurement gives reliable information about the development of blood pressure values. This is important in order to recognize risks early on and to avoid the consequences of hypertension.

If hypertension remains untreated in the long term, further serious illnesses may occur, including heart or circulatory problems such as myocardial infarction, weakness of the heart (heart failure) or stroke. But renal weakness or decline of vision are also among the possible consequences.