
Here at Simply Pharmacy, we offer free blood pressure checks. If your blood pressure is high, it is important to have regular checks.
What is blood-pressure?
Blood pressure is the pressure of the blood in the arteries as it is pumped around the body by the heart. Blood pressure does not stay the same all the time. It changes to meet your body’s needs. It is affected by various factors, including body position, breathing, emotional state, exercise and sleep.
If blood pressure remains high, it can lead to serious problems like heart attack, stroke, heart failure or kidney disease. The medical name for persistently high blood pressure is hypertension and the medical name for low blood pressure is hypotension.
Regular blood-pressure checks
If your blood pressure is in the healthy range and you have no other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and no personal or family history of high blood pressure, it is still important to have a check every two years and during routine visits to your doctor.
If your blood pressure is ‘high–normal’ (or higher), or if you have other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as a personal or family history of high blood pressure, stroke or heart attack, it is best to have it checked more frequently.
Managing high blood pressure
If your blood pressure remains high, it can lead to serious health problems. You will be more at risk of these problems if you:
Lifestyle changes are very important to help manage high blood pressure and lower your risk of cardiovascular disease.
Suggestions include:
Some people may also need medicine to manage high blood pressure, but it is still important for them to make lifestyle changes too.
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