Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Each time your heart beats, it pumps blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is highest when your heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic pressure. When your heart is at rest, between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is called diastolic pressure.

Your blood pressure reading uses these two numbers. Usually the systolic number comes before or above the diastolic number. For example, 120/80 means a systolic of 120 and a diastolic of 80.

High blood pressure usually has no symptoms. So the only way to find out if you have it is to get regular blood pressure checks from your health care provider. Your provider will use a gauge, a stethoscope or electronic sensor, and a blood pressure cuff. They will take two or more readings at separate appointments before making a diagnosis.

For children and teens, the health care provider compares the blood pressure reading to what is normal for other kids who are the same age, height, and sex.

There are two main types of high blood pressure:

• Primary, or essential, high blood pressure. This is the most common type of high blood pressure. For most people who get this kind of blood pressure, it develops over time as you get older.
• Secondary high blood pressure. This is caused by another medical condition or use of certain medicines. It usually gets better after you treat that condition or stop taking the medicines that are causing it.

When your blood pressure stays high over time, it causes the heart to pump harder and work overtime, possibly leading to serious health problems such as heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and kidney failure.

Treatments for high blood pressure include heart-healthy lifestyle changes and medicines.

You will work with your provider to come up with a treatment plan. It may include only the lifestyle changes. These changes, such as heart-healthy eating and exercise, can be very effective. But sometimes the changes do not control or lower your high blood pressure. Then you may need to take medicine. There are different types of blood pressure medicines. Some people need to take more than one type.

If your high blood pressure is caused by another medical condition or medicine, treating that condition or stopping the medicine may lower your blood pressure.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Regular exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health. It has many benefits. It can improve your overall health and fitness and reduce your risk for many chronic diseases. To get the most benefit, here's how much physical activity you should get:

Get at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity each week. Or you could do a combination of the two:

• Try to spread your physical activity out over several days of the week. That's better than trying to do it all in one or two days.
• Some days you may not have long blocks of time to do physical activity. You can start slowly and break your exercise time into chunks. Even small amounts of exercise can be helpful.
• Aerobic activities include walking fast, jogging, swimming, and biking.
• Moderate intensity means that while you are doing that activity you should be able to say a few words in a row but not sing.
• Vigorous intensity means that while you are doing that activity, you won't be able to say more than a few words without stopping for a breath.

Also, do strengthening activities two or more days per week:

• Strengthening activities include lifting weights, working with exercise bands, and doing sit-ups and pushups.
• Choose activities that work all parts of your body your legs, hips, back, chest, stomach, shoulders, and arms. For each exercise, try repeating the movement 8 to 12 times. As you get stronger, work up to doing 2 or 3 rounds of each exercise for the best results.

If you are an older adult, you may also benefit from a combination of activities that include aerobic exercises, strength or resistance training, and balance training. Balance training such as walking heel-to-toe or standing on one leg may help improve stability and prevent falls. Before you start exercising, check with your health care provider to determine the best type or amount of activity for you based on your fitness level and health.

Preschool children should be physically active throughout the day, to help with their growth and development:

• They should get both structured and unstructured active play. Structured play has a goal and is directed by an adult. Examples include playing a sport or a game. Unstructured play is creative free play, such as playing on a playground.
• Encourage active play with a variety of activities.

Get 60 minutes or more of physical activity every day. Most of it should be moderate-intensity aerobic activity:

• Activities should vary and be a good fit for the child's age and physical development
• Moderate-intensity aerobic activities include walking, running, skipping, playing on the playground, playing basketball, and biking

As part of the 60 minutes or more of daily physical activity, try to do each of these at least 3 days a week: vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, muscle-strengthening activity, and bone-strengthening activity:

• Vigorous-intensity aerobic activities include running, jumping jacks, and fast swimming
• Muscle-strengthening activities include playing on playground equipment, playing tug-of-war, and doing pushups and pull-ups
• Bone-strengthening activities include hopping, skipping, jumping jacks, playing volleyball, and working with resistance bands

Older adults, pregnant women, and people who have disabilities or special health needs should check with their provider on how much physical activity they should get and what types of activities they should do.

People who are trying to lose weight may need to get more physical activity. They also need to adjust their diet, so they are burning more calories than they eat and drink.

If you have been inactive, you may need to start exercising slowly. You can keep adding more gradually. The more you can do, the better. But try not to feel overwhelmed and do what you can. Getting some physical activity is always better than getting none. Even small increases in exercise can benefit your health.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Your small intestine is part of your digestive system. It is a long tube that connects your stomach to your large intestine. Intestinal cancer is rare, but eating a high-fat diet or having Crohn's disease, celiac disease, or a history of colonic polyps can increase your risk.

Possible signs of small intestine cancer include:

• Abdominal pain
• Weight loss for no reason
• Blood in the stool
• A lump in the abdomen

Imaging tests that create pictures of the small intestine and the area around it can help diagnose intestinal cancer and show whether it has spread.

Surgery is the most common treatment. Additional options include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or a combination.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

You have two kidneys. They are fist-sized organs on either side of your backbone above your waist. The tubes inside filter and clean your blood, taking out waste products and making urine. Kidney cancer forms in the lining of tiny tubes inside your kidneys.

Kidney cancer becomes more likely as you age. Risk factors include smoking, having certain genetic conditions, and misusing pain medicines for a long time.

You may have no symptoms at first. They may appear as the cancer grows. See your health care provider if you notice:

• Blood in your urine
• A lump in your abdomen
• Weight loss for no reason
• Pain in your side that does not go away
• Loss of appetite

Tests to diagnose kidney cancer include blood, urine, and imaging tests. You may also have a biopsy.

Treatment depends on your age, your overall health and how advanced the cancer is. It might include surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation, biologic, or targeted therapies. Biologic therapy boosts your body's own ability to fight cancer. Targeted therapy uses drugs or other substances that attack specific cancer cells with less harm to normal cells.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

When you breathe, your lungs take in oxygen from the air and deliver it to the bloodstream. The cells in your body need oxygen to work and grow. During a normal day, you breathe nearly 25,000 times. People with lung disease have difficulty breathing. Millions of people in the U.S. have lung disease. If all types of lung disease are lumped together, it is the number three killer in the United States.

The term lung disease refers to many disorders affecting the lungs, such as asthma, COPD, infections like influenza, pneumonia and tuberculosis, lung cancer, and many other breathing problems. Some lung diseases can lead to respiratory failure.

Dept. of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health