- Blood pressure is a measure of the force that your heart uses to pump blood around your body.
- If you have high blood pressure you may have hypertension.
- If you have consistently high blood pressure it can put you at higher risk of serious illness, such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and vascular dementia.
- High blood pressure or hypertension affects around 11.8 million adults in the UK – that’s over a quarter of the adult population. In south east London, high blood pressure is the leading cause of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and dementia.
- People of African, Caribbean, or South Asian heritage are at higher risk because of diet and genetics.
- You can have high blood pressure and not have any symptoms at all. Some people call it “the silent killer”.
- It’s easy to detect high blood pressure so it can be managed.
- Low blood pressure is called hypotension. It does not always cause symptoms but you may need treatment if it does. If you have low blood pressure along with symptoms like lightheadedness or dizziness, feeling sick, blurred vision, generally feeling weak, confusion, or fainting you should see your GP.
- In pregnancy it’s really important for both mum and baby to have healthy blood pressure.
- Lifestyle and blood pressure medication can help achieve and keep a healthy blood pressure.
What is it and why is it important?
Blood pressure is a measure of the force that your heart uses to pump blood around your body.
If you keep your blood pressure in the healthy range, it helps to lower the chance of having a heart attack or stroke.
Hypertension affects 14% of Southeast London residents and every year, it leads to 140 heart attacks and 200 strokes
High blood pressure can be dangerous because many people do not experience any problems until it’s too late. That’s why it’s important to check your blood pressure regularly. That way, you can catch any issues early on.
The good news is there are lots of simple steps you can take to lower high blood pressure.
What can I do about it?
Here are a few tips you can try to help reduce your blood pressure:
- reduce the amount of salt you eat
- eat a balanced diet
- cut back on alcohol
- lose weight if you’re overweight
- exercise regularly
- reduce stress levels
- cut down on caffeine – such as coffee, tea, or energy drinks
- reduce nicotine by stopping smoking or chewing tobacco eg. paan or betel nut
Here are some tips you can try to keep an eye on your blood pressure:
What support can I get?
It’s quick, easy, and free to check your blood pressure:
- Lots of community pharmacies can check it.
- You can visit your GP too.
- Don’t forget you can have also have a free NHS health check through your GP which includes blood pressure. Those are all free, but you could also buy a small machine to keep at home.
There’s more information about high blood pressure on the NHS and the British Heart Foundation websites.
For ideas about how to cut back on salt without losing flavour, you could look at the Blood Pressure UK and the British Heart Foundation websites.
Talk to your doctor about what might work best for you. They can help you keep your blood pressure at a healthy level by giving you advice or medication.
Community health insights
For people of African, Caribbean, or South Asian heritage, it’s especially important to know what your blood pressure is. And if you find it’s too high, it’s important to get it down again. Check out these sources for support.
Don’t forget…
It’s normal to feel nervous about getting your blood pressure checked, but don’t let that stop you. It’s better to know and be able to do something about it now to stop you getting sick later.
Also, a blood pressure check only shows your heart health at the time of the check. Regular checks mean healthcare practitioners can see if a high reading is just a one-off.