How severe does your blood pressure have to be to have a stroke or a heart attack?

Always a risk: If BP is sky-high, such as malignant hypertension, risk of brain hemorrhage is high, but even modest chronic elevation can increase risk for stroke and/or heart problems. In other words, follow american heart association recommendations and keep BP under tight control.

Any level: From low to normal to high can occur with either heart attack or stroke. With very high 150and greater systolic and 100 or so diastolic a number of bad things can happen: aortic tear-dissection, and heart attack or stoke may evolve. With high pressure intracranial aneurysm may burst, o r the brain may bleed. Complex sets of diagnostic issues.