Many people with high blood pressure have absolutely no symptoms: they feel fine; they may sometimes get a headache, which they may shrug off as stress-related.But high blood pressure can strain your heart and can create complications in other vital organs in your body. It often results in stroke.While the ideal blood pressure is 120/80, there are numerous studies which show that elevations in that top number put you at specific risk for developing cardiovascular disease.According to the Hypertension Guidelines for Bermuda released last month, if your systolic pressure (the top figure) is 140 or higher, but your diastolic pressure (the bottom figure) is 90 or less, you have isolated systolic hypertension stage 1.If your systolic pressure is 160 or higher and your diastolic pressure is 90 or lower, you have isolated systolic hypertension stage 2.The guidelines explain that systolic blood pressure does rise as you age, while diastolic rises until about age 50 at which time it tends to level off for ten years, and then may fall.In Bermuda the most common form of hypertension in the over-50 age group, is high systolic blood pressure also called isolated systolic hypertension. In fact poor control of this figure is, according to the guidelines, “largely responsible for the unacceptable low rate rates of overall BP (blood pressure) control”.Body & Soul has partnered with the Department of Health in its hypertension awareness campaign.In 2006 a quarter of the adult population reported they had the condition.