Hello, my name is Emily Turner, and I’m the Clinical Lead for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention for West Yorkshire.
World Hypertension Day is an annual event taking place today, 17 May. The main aim of the day is to educate the public and increase awareness of hypertension, which is also commonly known as high blood pressure. The theme for 2024 is ‘measure your blood pressure accurately, control it, live longer’ as part of a month-long awareness campaign known as ‘May Measurement Month’.
Do you know what your blood pressure is? If not, I’m worried about you. Did you know that high blood pressure is the biggest contributor to excess deaths in the UK?
High blood pressure puts an extra strain on your heart and blood vessels, which can damage them and make them weaker. Over time, this can lead to health problems including heart attacks, heart failure, stroke, some forms of dementia, kidney disease and peripheral arterial disease. These are happening to more younger people than ever, so don’t think you are immune because you are young.
Many people who suffer from hypertension are not aware that they have it, as there can be no symptoms, and often people only find out after suffering a heart attack or stroke. People with very high blood pressure might get headaches, blood shot eyes or feel sick or generally unwell. For all the men reading this, erectile dysfunction is also caused by high blood pressure so if that is a problem for you, please do get checked out!
If you have other health problems as well as high blood pressure, such as diabetes or high cholesterol, this makes serious health problems in the future more likely, making it more important to take steps to lower your blood pressure. If you are from a South Asian or African-Caribbean background, your risk of having high blood pressure is higher.
In December 2023, 322,805 people living in West Yorkshire were known to have high blood pressure; 15% of our population. However, a further 300,000 are estimated to be living with high blood pressure and are totally unaware of it – are you one of those people? High blood pressure rarely causes any symptoms until it is very high, so most people have no idea unless they take their blood pressure. Amongst those who know about their high blood pressure, around 20-30% still have uncontrolled blood pressure. A normal blood pressure is 90/60mmHg and 120/80mmHg. If your blood pressure is between 120/80mmHg and 140/90mmHg this can increase your chances of developing high blood pressure in the future. High blood pressure is anything over 140/90mmHg.
You can get your blood pressure checked at your local pharmacy, in your GP surgery, at pop-up events or you can buy a blood pressure machine and check it at home. If you know you have high blood pressure, you should check it AT LEAST once a year but ideally you should take it at home twice a day for a week a few times a year. If you are over 40 and have not got high blood pressure or other heart or blood vessel diseases you should do your blood pressure AT LEAST once every 5 years, but ideally once a year or more.
There are things you can do too to reduce your blood pressure if it is high, or to prevent high blood pressure in the future. Getting active, keeping to a healthy weight and stopping smoking are some of the best things you can do for your blood pressure. What you eat can make a huge difference to your blood pressure quickly and naturally. Getting your-five-a-day while cutting back on salt and saturated fats will help. There is lots more information on the Blood Pressure UK website.
If you, your friends or family or your patients have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, a healthcare professional might suggest taking medications to lower it and reduce your risk of complications. Blood Pressure UK and Patient.info have lots of information about blood pressure medicines. People of African Caribbean descent are more sensitive to the blood pressure-raising effects of salt compared with other ethnic groups, so reducing salt is particularly important in this population. People with high blood pressure might also be offered statins to reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes. The cholesterol charity Heart UK has lots of helpful information to help you make healthy lifestyle choices and medicines choices that are right for you.
High blood pressure is really common but also preventable and easy to treat. This May Measurement Month, why not get checked out, know your numbers and reduce your risk of serious illness with a quick and easy blood pressure check. And, please, strike up some conversations with your friends and family about how they can reduce their risk of heart attacks, strokes and other serious illnesses.
Thanks for reading,
Emily