Dr. Younge talks about what the different blood pressure levels mean, and what is considered healthy.

Dr. Richard Younge is a family physician at the Herman "Denny" Farrell, Jr., Community Health Center in Washington Heights where he treats patients of all ages and backgrounds. (http://www.nyp.org/services/acn_morgan_practice.html)

Q: What is a healthy blood pressure level?

A: There are targets that sometimes change. Let's take blood pressure as one example, several years ago a blood pressure of 140 over 90 was considered borderline high blood pressure and we didn't really do a whole lot about it. (In this example, 140 is the pressure in the blood vessels when the heart is contracting or pumping; the lower number is when the heart is relaxing. Now, however, 140/90 is considered high blood pressure. A patient with this score would mean that we would really get very involved with the patient and try to get them to change their diet, perhaps lose weight, or even start taking medicines. However, 135/85 or less would be the goal for somebody who has diabetes.

Read more from Dr. Younge by clicking the links below:

• Family medicine
• Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test
• Success story handling challenges
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)
• Blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar - Part I
• Blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar - Part II
• Screening for cholesterol
• Knowing your BMI
• Annual checkups
• Dr. Younge's ideas about healthcare
• Addressing different patients' needs

To listen to our interview with Dr. Richard Younge, click here for our podcast page.

Harlem Word is a series of interviews with community health experts written by HHPC and reviewed by our Health Advisory Board.