Does anyone know which number is more important.
The systolic or the diastolic?

In a Harvard study it was found that systolic was more important for predicting cardiovascular problems.

I always used common sense and figured that bottom would be more important (sorry I ALWAYS forget if bottom in systolic or diastolic! - if someone tells me, then the next time it comes up I forget again!) - the top number is the pressure as the heart beats and pushes blood through the veins and is effected by many things, the bottom number is the pressure of the heart at rest, and to me, if it's a high bottom number, why is the blood going through so forcefully when nothing is PUSHING it?? Just my opinion. In the medical field you'll have them flip flop on that issue every few years, like everything else.

Flutterby,
If I did this right, this link should direct you to an older forum that might help answer your question:
http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=266696

I asked my doctor that very question and her answer was that they were both important. The literature isn't clear on this, and as Sunlover points out, the answer seems to change every few years.