Decoding your blood pressure numbers: What that reading really means

(Aging Untold) — High blood pressure often has no warning signs, but, left unchecked, it can quietly damage more than your heart. The Aging Untold experts are breaking down what’s actually happening inside your blood vessels when your blood pressure runs high, why the bottom number deserves more attention than most people give it and how everyday habits — and a little data — can help you get ahead of it. What’s really happening in your body Board-certified physician Dr. Rhea Rogers said that high blood pressure almost always starts with chronic inflammation damaging the blood vessels themselves. “Overall, it’s just chronic inflammation. These chronic inflammatory changes [are] damaging the blood vessels, basically. That’s what’s going on. And you have to look and find out where the inflammation is coming from,” Rogers said. She points to a protective layer lining our blood vessel walls, called the glycocalyx layer, that helps regulate blood flow and prevent plaque buildup. “It’s like a