Blood Pressure

Is 140/70 a Good Blood Pressure for a 70 Year Old?

Name: Daily Beets
Brand: Matter
Price: 19.99 GBP
Availability: InStock

The short answer: it’s borderline. The systolic is at the threshold for Stage 1 hypertension, while the diastolic is perfectly normal. Here’s exactly what that means, what the NHS would say about it, and what to do next.

NK Medically reviewed by Dr. Nouman Kazmi, MBBS FCPS · 12 min read

140/90

Clinic threshold (mmHg)

135/85

Home threshold (mmHg)

Over-60s with ISH

6–8w

For meaningful trends

Key Takeaways

A reading of 140/70 sits right at the threshold for Stage 1 hypertension — it’s borderline, not a crisis
The diastolic (70) is perfectly normal — this pattern is called isolated systolic hypertension and is very common in older adults
One reading means very little — your GP would want to see a trend over at least two weeks of home monitoring
NICE guidelines recommend a slightly higher target (150/90) for adults over 80, so age matters when interpreting readings
If consistently elevated at home (above 135/85), lifestyle changes are the recommended first step before medication
A reading of 180/120 or above, or any reading with symptoms, requires urgent medical attention

In This Article

What does 140/70 actually mean?
NHS and NICE thresholds for older adults
Why one reading doesn’t tell the full story
Isolated systolic hypertension: what it is and why it’s common after 60
What should you do if your reading is 140/70?
Lifestyle changes that can make a real difference
When to see your GP urgently
Frequently asked questions

What Does 140/70 Actually Mean?

A blood pressure reading of 140/70 mmHg tells you two things at once. The top number (systolic) — 140 — represents the pressure in your arteries when your heart contracts. The bottom number (diastolic) — 70 — represents the pressure when your heart rests between beats. In this case, one number is at a threshold and the other is comfortably normal.

A systolic of 140 mmHg sits right at the boundary of what the NHS classifies as Stage 1 hypertension. Under NICE guideline NG136, a clinic reading of 140/90 or above is considered high blood pressure. So your systolic is technically at that line.

Meanwhile, a diastolic of 70 mmHg is well within the normal range. Anything under 80 is considered healthy, and 70 is exactly where most clinicians would hope to see it.

This combination — a raised systolic with a normal diastolic — has a specific name: isolated systolic hypertension (ISH). It is the most common form of elevated blood pressure in people over 60 and happens because arteries naturally stiffen with age. As the large arteries become less elastic, they do not absorb the force of each heartbeat as efficiently, which pushes the systolic number up. The diastolic number, which depends more on the relaxation phase, stays the same or may even drop slightly.

So if you are 70 years old and your reading is 140/70, you are not unusual. This is a very common pattern at your age. But “common” does not mean “nothing to watch” — it means it is worth understanding properly and monitoring over time.

Of adults over 60 have some degree of isolated systolic hypertension. It is the most common form of high blood pressure in older age groups. Arterial stiffness is a natural part of ageing — but that does not mean it cannot be managed or improved.

NHS and NICE Thresholds for Older Adults

Understanding where 140/70 fits requires knowing the official thresholds used by the NHS. These come from NICE guideline NG136, which is the standard reference for hypertension diagnosis and management across the UK.

The first thing to understand is that clinic readings and home readings have different thresholds. Because people are generally more relaxed at home, home readings tend to run slightly lower. The NHS accounts for this:

Category	Clinic Reading	Home / ABPM
Normal	Below 120/80	Below 115/75
Elevated / Pre-hypertension	120–139 / 80–89	115–134 / 75–84
Stage 1 Hypertension	140–159 / 90–99	135–149 / 85–94
Stage 2 Hypertension	160+ / 100+	150+ / 95+
Over-80s Target	Below 150/90	Below 145/85

If you are under 80, a clinic reading of 140/70 places you right at the Stage 1 hypertension threshold for systolic pressure, although your diastolic is well below the 90 threshold. This is where isolated systolic hypertension sits — one number is elevated, the other is not.

If you are over 80, NICE recommends a more relaxed target. The treatment target becomes 150/90 in clinic (or 145/85 at home). This means a reading of 140/70 would actually be below the treatment threshold for your age group. NICE acknowledges that overly aggressive blood pressure lowering in very old adults can sometimes cause more problems than it solves — including dizziness, falls, and reduced blood flow to the brain.

💡

Important Distinction

The thresholds above are for diagnosis. Treatment targets may differ. For example, if you are already on medication, your GP may aim for a target below 140/90 in clinic (or 135/85 at home) for adults under 80, and below 150/90 in clinic for adults over 80. Always check your personal target with your GP — it depends on your overall cardiovascular risk, not just the number on the monitor.

The key point: context matters. A reading of 140/70 means something different for a 65-year-old with no other risk factors than it does for a 72-year-old with diabetes and a family history of heart disease. The number is the starting point, not the verdict.

Why One Reading Doesn’t Tell the Full Story

If you have just taken a reading and it says 140/70, the single most important thing to understand is this: one reading, on its own, means almost nothing. Blood pressure is not a fixed number — it fluctuates throughout the day, every day.

There are dozens of things that can temporarily raise your blood pressure. A stressful phone call. A cup of coffee thirty minutes ago. Rushing to sit down. Crossing your legs. Talking during the measurement. Even the mild anxiety of checking your blood pressure can push the numbers up — a phenomenon so well-documented it has its own name: white coat hypertension.

Your blood pressure naturally follows a daily rhythm. It tends to be lowest during deep sleep, rises when you wake up, peaks in the late afternoon, and gradually falls again in the evening. A reading taken at 7am will often look quite different from one taken at 4pm — even if nothing else has changed.

This is precisely why the NHS and NICE do not diagnose hypertension from a single reading. The standard process involves either ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM), where you wear a cuff for 24 hours, or home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM), where you take readings twice a day for at least four days — ideally seven — and then calculate the average.

The trend over six to eight weeks is what genuinely matters. A single reading of 140/70 could be your normal resting pressure, or it could be a temporary spike that will settle to 125/68 tomorrow. The only way to know is to measure consistently and look at the pattern.

“A single reading is a snapshot. A log built over several weeks is the picture your GP actually needs.”

— Adapted from NICE guideline NG136

Free tool from Matter

Track your readings over time. See the real picture.

The Matter Blood Pressure Tracker turns your daily readings into a clear 7, 28 and 90‑day trend. Free, no app to download, exports a clean PDF for your GP.

Open the BP Tracker → Free forever · No signup catch

Isolated Systolic Hypertension: What It Is and Why It’s Common After 60

When the systolic number is elevated but the diastolic remains normal — as in a reading of 140/70 — the clinical term is isolated systolic hypertension (ISH). It is the most common form of high blood pressure in people over 60, and understanding why it happens makes it far less alarming.

Throughout your life, your arteries are elastic. When your heart contracts and pushes blood out, healthy arteries stretch to absorb the force, then gently recoil to keep the blood moving forward. This elasticity acts as a natural shock absorber, keeping the systolic pressure in check.

As you age, the walls of the large arteries — particularly the aorta — gradually stiffen. Collagen replaces elastin. Calcium can deposit in the arterial walls. The arteries become less able to stretch with each heartbeat, which means more of the force is transmitted directly as pressure. The result: the systolic number rises.

Meanwhile, the diastolic number depends more on the resistance in smaller blood vessels and on the recoil of the arteries between heartbeats. Because arterial stiffness reduces recoil, the diastolic can actually fall slightly with age. This is why it is entirely normal for a 70-year-old to have a systolic above 130 but a diastolic below 80.

Research published in The Lancet and the European Heart Journal has confirmed that isolated systolic hypertension carries its own cardiovascular risk, independent of the diastolic reading. Even though the diastolic looks fine, a persistently elevated systolic places additional mechanical stress on the heart, brain, and kidneys over time. The SHEP and Syst-Eur trials demonstrated that treating ISH in older adults significantly reduces the risk of stroke and heart failure.

The good news: ISH responds well to the same interventions used for standard hypertension — lifestyle changes, and where necessary, medication. The fact that your diastolic is normal is genuinely reassuring. It suggests that the smaller vessels are in good shape and that the issue is primarily about arterial stiffness, which is highly modifiable.

📊

What Should You Do If Your Reading Is 140/70?

If you have seen 140/70 on your monitor, here is a practical, step-by-step approach. This follows the process your GP would use if you walked in with this reading today.

Don’t panic

A single reading of 140/70 is not a medical emergency. It is not even a diagnosis. It is a data point — and one data point, taken on one occasion, cannot tell you whether you have a sustained blood pressure problem. Many people see a number like this and immediately assume the worst. The reality is that your blood pressure may well be lower at other times of the day.

Start home monitoring

Use a validated upper-arm blood pressure monitor. If you are not sure how to choose one or how to take readings correctly, our guide on how to measure blood pressure at home covers everything you need to know — from choosing the right cuff to sitting position, timing, and technique.

Track for at least two weeks, twice daily

Take two readings in the morning (before medication or food) and two in the evening, at the same times each day. Record all four readings. Discard the first day’s results, as these tend to run higher due to anxiety. After two weeks, calculate the average of all remaining readings — this is your baseline.

If consistently above 135/85 at home, see your GP

If your home average over two weeks is consistently at or above 135/85, it is worth booking a GP appointment. Bring your log — either printed or on your phone. A GP will take your home readings seriously, because they know home readings are often more reliable than a single clinic measurement.

Your GP will assess your overall cardiovascular risk

Blood pressure is never assessed in isolation. Your GP will calculate your 10-year cardiovascular risk using a tool called QRISK3, which factors in your age, sex, ethnicity, cholesterol, smoking status, family history, and other conditions like diabetes or kidney disease. Two people with identical blood pressure can have very different risk profiles.

Lifestyle changes come first

For Stage 1 hypertension without additional cardiovascular risk factors or organ damage, NICE recommends lifestyle changes before medication. This includes reducing salt, increasing physical activity, moderating alcohol, and maintaining a healthy weight. Medication is typically considered if blood pressure remains elevated after a sustained period of lifestyle modification, or if there are additional risk factors that raise your overall cardiovascular risk above a certain threshold.

The key message: 140/70 is a prompt to investigate, not a diagnosis. The right response is measurement, not alarm. And if it does turn out to be a sustained pattern, there are clear, effective steps you and your GP can take together.

Lifestyle Changes That Can Make a Real Difference

If your readings are consistently in the borderline or Stage 1 range, lifestyle changes are genuinely powerful. The evidence for these is robust, and for many people they are enough to bring readings back within a healthy range without medication.

Reduce salt intake

The average UK adult consumes around 8.1g of salt per day. The NHS target is no more than 6g (about one teaspoon). Most of this comes from processed foods — bread, breakfast cereals, ready meals, and takeaways — not the salt shaker. Cutting salt intake by even 2–3g per day can reduce systolic blood pressure by 4–5 mmHg, which is clinically meaningful.

Follow a DASH-style diet

The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) eating pattern emphasises fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein while limiting saturated fat and added sugars. Multiple large-scale studies have shown it can lower systolic blood pressure by 8–14 mmHg. It does not require anything exotic — it is fundamentally about eating more vegetables and less processed food.

Walk regularly

You do not need to run marathons. 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week — which is roughly 30 minutes of brisk walking, five days a week — has been shown to reduce systolic blood pressure by 5–8 mmHg. Walking is free, requires no equipment, and is gentler on ageing joints than more intense exercise.

Manage your weight

If you are carrying extra weight, even a modest reduction can help. Losing just 5% of your body weight — about 5kg for someone who weighs 100kg — can produce a measurable drop in blood pressure. The effect is most pronounced in people who are already overweight or obese.

Moderate alcohol

The NHS recommends no more than 14 units per week, spread across several days. Regular heavy drinking raises blood pressure and reduces the effectiveness of blood pressure medication. Even reducing from heavy to moderate intake can lower systolic pressure by 4–5 mmHg.

Evidence-based supplements

Some natural compounds have credible evidence behind them. Dietary nitrate — found in high concentrations in beetroot — has been shown in multiple randomised controlled trials to reduce systolic blood pressure by 3–10 mmHg. The mechanism is well understood: dietary nitrate converts to nitric oxide in the body, which relaxes blood vessel walls and improves blood flow. Hibiscus tea has also shown modest blood pressure-lowering effects in clinical trials.

These are not magic fixes. They work best as part of a broader approach that includes diet, activity, and monitoring. But for someone with borderline readings, the cumulative effect of several small changes can be genuinely significant.

For a deeper look at all the evidence-based approaches, see our full guide: How to Lower Blood Pressure Naturally.

Daily Beets by Matter

Support your cardiovascular health with evidence.

Daily Beets is an 11-ingredient cardiovascular formula built around the dietary nitrate pathway — including concentrated beetroot, hibiscus, and CoQ10. One part of a broader approach to keeping your numbers in a healthy range.

Discover Daily Beets → 11 active ingredients · Cardiologist-reviewed

When to See Your GP Urgently

A reading of 140/70 is not an emergency. But there are situations where blood pressure does require immediate medical attention, and it is important to know the difference.

⚠

Seek urgent medical help if:

Your reading is 180/120 mmHg or above — this is considered a hypertensive crisis
You experience sudden severe headache alongside a high reading
You have chest pain, shortness of breath, or palpitations
You notice visual changes — blurred vision, double vision, or loss of vision in one eye
You feel suddenly confused, have difficulty speaking, or experience weakness on one side of your body (these may indicate stroke — call 999 immediately)
You develop nosebleeds that will not stop alongside very high readings

If your blood pressure is very high but you have no symptoms, take another reading after five minutes of rest. If it remains above 180/120, call NHS 111 for advice. If you experience any of the symptoms listed above alongside a high reading, call 999 — do not drive yourself to the hospital.

For a more detailed look at what symptoms can accompany high blood pressure, see our guide: Symptoms of High Blood Pressure: What to Look For.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is 140/70 normal for my age?

It is common, but not ideal. A systolic of 140 sits at the threshold of Stage 1 hypertension at any age. However, it is much more prevalent in older adults due to arterial stiffening. For adults aged 70–79, NICE targets a clinic reading below 140/90 (or 135/85 at home). For adults over 80, the target is more relaxed at 150/90. So whether 140/70 is “normal for your age” depends partly on whether you are 70 or 82 — but in either case it is worth monitoring, not ignoring.

Should I be on medication at 140/70?

Not necessarily. NICE guidelines recommend lifestyle changes as the first-line approach for Stage 1 hypertension without additional cardiovascular risk factors or organ damage. Medication is typically considered if blood pressure remains elevated despite lifestyle modification, or if your overall 10-year cardiovascular risk (assessed via QRISK3) exceeds a certain threshold. Your GP will make this decision based on the full picture, not just the number on your monitor. A one-off reading of 140/70 is not, in itself, an indication for medication.

What is a good blood pressure for a 70 year old?

For adults aged 70–79, NICE recommends a treatment target below 140/90 in clinic, or below 135/85 at home. Ideally, you would see readings in the range of 120–135 systolic and 70–85 diastolic at home. For adults over 80, the target is slightly more generous: below 150/90 in clinic. The “perfect” blood pressure of 120/80 is increasingly uncommon over 60 and it is not what your GP is aiming for. A stable reading in the 120s–130s systolic, with a diastolic between 65 and 85, is considered very good for someone in their 70s.

Does blood pressure naturally increase with age?

Yes — systolic blood pressure tends to rise gradually from middle age onwards. This is primarily because arteries lose elasticity over time, a process called arteriosclerosis. Interestingly, diastolic pressure tends to rise until about age 55–60 and then may actually decline. This is why isolated systolic hypertension — high systolic, normal or low diastolic — is so much more common in older adults. While a gradual rise is expected, it does not mean it should go unmonitored. Lifestyle factors can significantly influence the rate and extent of this increase.

How accurate are home blood pressure monitors?

A validated upper-arm monitor is very accurate when used correctly. The British and Irish Hypertension Society (BIHS) maintains a list of validated devices at bihsoc.org. Wrist monitors tend to be less reliable because they are more sensitive to positioning. The most common source of error is not the device itself but the technique — not resting before measuring, using the wrong cuff size, crossing your legs, or talking during the reading. Our guide on how to measure blood pressure at home covers all of this in detail.

Continue Learning

References

NICE. Hypertension in adults: diagnosis and management (NG136). Available at: nice.org.uk/guidance/ng136
NHS England. Home blood pressure monitoring. Available at: england.nhs.uk
Blood Pressure UK. Understanding blood pressure readings. Available at: bloodpressureuk.org
Franklin SS et al. Is pulse pressure useful in predicting risk for coronary heart disease? Circulation. 1999;100(4):354–360.
SHEP Cooperative Research Group. Prevention of stroke by antihypertensive drug treatment in older persons with isolated systolic hypertension. JAMA. 1991;265(24):3255–3264.
Staessen JA et al. Randomised double-blind comparison of placebo and active treatment for older patients with isolated systolic hypertension (Syst-Eur). The Lancet. 1997;350(9080):757–764.
Beckett NS et al. Treatment of hypertension in patients 80 years of age or older (HYVET). N Engl J Med. 2008;358(18):1887–1898.
British and Irish Hypertension Society. Validated blood pressure monitors. Available at: bihsoc.org
Siervo M et al. Inorganic nitrate and beetroot juice supplementation reduces blood pressure in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Nutr. 2013;143(6):818–826.

Back to the Heart Health Resource Centre