Understanding blood pressure readings?

Firstly I want to comment on the medical students answer because although his answer is correct, it lacks further explanation and clarity. Blood pressure will of course naturally rise with age, this is to a certain extent part of the ageing process for reasons Zizzou gave,- we know this, however studies show that the higher the blood pressure, the greater the risk of cardiovascular events which is why we say that although this may be considered a normalish BP reading for someone this age, it isn't optimal (optimal being <120/80) and because anything above is pathological (and therefore a risk to health) it is not considered normal. Single BP readings are never diagnostic, for a more accurate analysis, BP needs to be measured over a 24 hour period,- It might be worth asking your BF's GP to arrange this. This will give a more accurate reading of his BP. 144 isn't within treatment range (unless he has risk factors such as diabetes and kidney issues etc), so best advise at the moment is lifestyle changes and close BP monitoring. Your boyfriend needs to reduce sodium in his diet, exercise, stay as close to his ideal weight as possible and limit alcohol consumption. We should all be doing this regardless. Normal heart rate is 60-100, so no issue there. Caveat: Watch out Zizzou, with an answer like that, user 'Mrs.Doubtfire' will be all over you. EDIT 1 Zizzou: There was nothing wrong with your statement, in fact, many Doctors forget the small fact that BP does rise with age and it is to a certain extent part of the natural ageing process. Your answer was fine, it just lacked further explanation and I felt it might mislead the poster. If you are studying medicine then you will know our aim is to keep BP <120/80 that's all. No need to get offended and all silly! If you want to be a Doctor you're going to have to be a lot more thick skinned then that pal. EDIT 2 No problem Zizzou, I'm sorry if it looked like I was attacking your answer. Good luck with your studies, I am hoping to study medicine too. (user Henry is Doubtfire by the way, ignore it)