Making the Diagnosis
If your blood pressure is above the normal range for up to 5 readings (taken at different visits), your doctor will likely diagnose you with high blood pressure. Sometimes the doctor may diagnose you after a fewer number of readings, depending on how high above normal your blood pressure is and if you have other medical conditions. Blood pressure tends to be at its highest during exercise, physical work, or stress, and lowest during sleep. Everyone can have a temporary increase in blood pressure at one time or another, which is why it's important to take multiple readings.
If blood pressure is high, a physician will also want to know if there are any other risk factors such as high cholesterol, diabetes, inactivity, obesity, smoking, or a family history of heart disease. The more risk factors someone has, the higher the chance of getting heart disease or a stroke.
A doctor might take an electrocardiogram (ECG) for a reading of the electric activity of the heart or get blood samples to see if high blood pressure has caused any organ damage.