Is a blood pressure reading of 101/57 healthy?

You should check the blood pressure in the morning, right after waking up. Yours is a bit lower than normal, but if you are an athlete for example, this should be OK.

A healthy blood pressure reading is one that's somewhere in the region of 120/80.  A reading of 101/57, therefore, is quite far away from that figure, and is considered to be low.

There are two ways to identify a potentially low blood pressure reading:

1. Firstly, look at the starting number.  If this number is 90 or less, it could be indicative of low blood pressure.
2. Secondly, look at the following number.  If this number is 60 or less, it could be indicative of low blood pressure.

In the case of the example reading of 101/57, the first number seems to be okay.  On the other hand, a reading of 57 suggests low blood pressure.

Causes

Some people have naturally low blood pressure, and it's a fairly common thing to have. There are plenty of reasons why you may be experiencing low blood pressure. These are the most common:

• Low body temperature
• High body temperature
• Medication
• Loss of blood
• Dehydration
  

If you're worried about low (or high) blood pressure, you should seek advice from your doctor.  There are plenty of ways to treat blood pressure issues, and finding the initial cause is usually the best solution.

Here's a short video explaining the importance of blood pressure: