Blacks in the group had a systolic blood pressure four points higher.

High systolic blood pressure was defined as 160 or more.

Systolic pressure, the higher of the two readings, is measured first.

No significant differences were found between the two groups of patients for either systolic or diastolic blood pressure.

The final reading is the systolic pressure (the higher number) over the diastolic.

The program does not set standards for systolic pressure, the higher number, but readings consistently above 140 or 150 are considered too high.

Now, the top number, or systolic pressure, will be included if it is 140 or higher.

Note the words systolic blood pressure, the upper number.

But in his analysis, he found that reducing systolic blood pressure to 110 was associated with a 3.1-fold increased risk of major cardiovascular events.

A normal systolic blood pressure is about 120 millimeters of mercury.