High blood pressure, is thought to affect an estimated thirty two per cent of adults here in the UK. As the condition rarely has any symptoms, approximately three in ten of these remain undiagnosed, equating to more than four point two million people in England and Wales. If left untreated, the condition can lead to fatal heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and vascular dementia.
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00:00 And what does having a high blood pressure check involve?
00:05 It's really quick and simple, but all it is, is essentially you get a cuff on the upper
00:12 arm and it kind of squeezes your arm and it's all done digitally, so you'll get a result
00:19 within one to two minutes.
00:21 It's, you know, wrapped around your arm, filled with air until it feels tight.
00:25 It can feel uncomfortable, but it only lasts a few seconds.
00:28 It's important that you relax and not talk during the time, because this is when your
00:33 blood pressure is being measured and an automatic device usually picks up the measurements from
00:37 the sensors in the cuff and the arm, which are then sent to a digital display.
00:41 You should get the results straight away and then advice on the best next steps to take.
00:46 Yeah, and if you are found to have high blood pressure, you've mentioned that about getting
00:50 started on treatment straight away.
00:52 What does the treatment involve?
00:54 So there's many different treatments available.
00:58 First and foremost, NICE recommend lifestyle changes.
01:02 So this includes things like maintaining a healthy diet, healthy balanced diet, maintaining
01:07 adequate hydration and increasing physical activity, also maintaining a healthy weight.
01:16 We know that there is a strong link between obesity and also high blood pressure.
01:22 So if you do need support with regards to that, I would really recommend you reach out.
01:27 And then once lifestyle factors are ruled out or if they're no longer effective, then
01:34 the second line treatment would be medication.
01:37 So this is your blood pressure medications.
01:40 And this is something that you get from your GP or the pharmacist working in the GP practice.
01:46 And essentially, we recommend it based on how high your blood pressure has been consistently
01:52 over a certain number of days and then ruling out any lifestyle factors, as we discussed.