Health Hotline Magazine | June 2026

What is high blood pressure? Who is at risk?

When you get a blood pressure reading, what do those numbers mean? The first number is your systolic pressure, or the pressure that occurs as blood pumps out of the heart and into your blood vessels. The second, or diastolic pressure, is when your heart rests between beats. High blood pressure is when the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels is consistently too high. Elevated blood pressure (now considered stage one hypertension) is 120-129/80 mm Hg, while stage two hypertension is 130-139/80-89 mm Hg. Some of the common risk factors for developing hypertension include excess weight, lack of physical activity, a diet heavy in ultra-processed foods and sugar (especially fructose), excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, and low levels of nitric oxide, which naturally fall with age. Frequent mouthwash use is also linked to high blood pressure. Research published in 2020 found that “frequent regular use of over-the counter mouthwash was associated with increased risk of hypertension, independent of [other] major risk factors…” One study also found that using mouthwash negated the blood-pressure lowering e ects of exercise. Clinical trials have shown that antibacterial mouthwash depletes the oral bacteria that help the body produce nitric oxide, decreasing overall nitric oxide availability in the body. Nitric oxide is critical for regulating blood pressure. African Americans are also at a higher risk. According to the American Heart Association, the prevalence of high blood pressure in African Americans is among the highest in the world and develops earlier in life. One observational study found that by the age of 25, hypertension among African American men and women was nearly twice that of their white counterparts. And recent research from Northwestern University found that over the course of one year, African American men had a 43 percent higher rate of death from heart failure, while African American women had a 54 percent higher death rate from heart failure compared to other racial groups. “This heart failure trend is another manifestation of the undertreatment of hypertension,” senior study author and cardiologist Sadiya Khan, MD said. “Know your blood pressure and make sure it’s being well managed and well-treated.”

Make managing your blood pressure a priority ...frequent regular use of over-the-counter mouthwash was associated with increased risk of hypertension, independent of [other] major risk factors…

and fruit to maintain a healthy sodium-potassium balance. Move your body regularly. This doesn’t have to mean rigorous workouts at the gym; something as simple as a daily walk is su cient. If you are a heavy drinker, work to cut back your alcohol intake. If you smoke, you know what to do. And if you have high blood pressure and use mouthwash, it’s probably a good idea to give it up. Adopt small healthy habits and they will coalesce into big changes for your health.

Managing high blood pressure is possible—and you can do it with lifestyle interventions. Reduce your intake of sugar, and ultra processed foods, especially high-fructose corn syrup, which has been independently associated with higher blood pressure, even in adults with no previous history of hypertension. If you still drink soda, make it a goal to significantly slash your intake—even one sugar-sweetened soda a day has been shown to increase blood pressure. Eat an abundance of potassium-rich vegetables

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