Blood pressure is the force that blood exerts on the walls of your arteries. Anyone can have hypertension, even if they look and feel healthy. Raised blood pressure (hypertension) has no symptoms, but increases your risk of stroke, heart attack, kidney problems and dementia. The only way to know if your blood pressure is raised is by having it checked.
Hypertension can have devastating health consequences, such as stroke and heart attack, but there are steps you can take to lower it.
“Around 40% of adults in the UK have blood pressure that needs lowering, so it’s hugely common,” says general practitioner Dr Mike Mead. “It causes stroke, heart attacks, dementia and kidney disease, but it’s treatable. It’s a preventable cause of massive ill health.”
Who’s at risk?
You’re more likely to have hypertension if any of the following apply to you:
- You’re overweight.
- You don’t get enough exercise.
- You eat too much salt and/or saturated fat.
- You drink too much alcohol.
- You don’t eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
- You’re of South Asian, African or Caribbean descent.
- There is heart attack, stroke or hypertension in your family.
Your lifestyle can have a big effect on your blood pressure. “Lack of exercise, lots of fatty food like crisps, being in your car or at your computer all day, or not walking anywhere means your blood pressure keeps rising,” says Dr Mead. “It rises with age anyway. Most people over the age of 60 to 65 are hypertensive. But some healthy changes to your lifestyle can make a big difference.”
If you have diabetes or kidney disease, it is especially important to control your blood pressure.
Compared to the general population, people with diabetes are up to three times more likely to have hypertension, and people with hypertension are more likely to have diabetes.
It is important for people with chronic kidney disease to keep their blood pressure at a healthy level, to control the progression of the kidney disease.
Know your blood pressure
Knowing your blood pressure is key so that you can reduce it if you need to. A doctor, nurse or pharmacist can measure your blood pressure.
You can buy monitoring kits to use yourself, but it’s important to know what the result means and what you need to do about it.
Blood pressure is measured in two numbers, for example 120/80, described as ‘120 over 80’. The first number is the pressure when your heart beats to push blood around your body (systolic), and the second is the pressure when your heart is resting (diastolic).
If your blood pressure is 120/80 or less, this is healthy.
If your blood pressure is 140/90 or more, you have hypertension and need to reduce your blood pressure. This may involve taking medication.
If your blood pressure is between 120/80 and 140/90, it is slightly raised and you need to take some steps to lower it.
Lowering your blood pressure
“There are lots of things you can do in your daily life to lower blood pressure, and they’re often quite simple,” says Dr Mead.
These include eating less salt, eating a healthy diet, eating more fruit and vegetables, and getting regular exercise. If you’re overweight, losing weight will help.
Your doctor, nurse or pharmacist can advise you on how to lower your blood pressure.
A healthy lifestyle can lower your blood pressure, if it’s raised, and can help keep it at a healthy level.
“There are lots of different ways you can have a significant impact on your blood pressure,” says Dr Mike Mead. “Reducing your blood pressure can make a massive difference to your health.
“It can prevent you from having a stroke or heart attack and can lessen your chance of ending up in an old people’s home with lack of memory, which can be caused by small mini-strokes.
“There are so many benefits to making sure your blood pressure stays at a reasonable level.”
If you have chronic kidney disease, controlling your blood pressure can slow its progression.
Steps towards a healthier lifestyle
Exercise: Do 30 minutes of activity five times a week, such as walking, dancing, cycling or swimming. If you’re not used to exercise, don’t start too suddenly. Talk to your doctor about the level of exercise that will suit you, and build up slowly.
Healthy eating: A healthy, balanced diet will help reduce your blood pressure. This includes:
- eating less salt,
- eating less saturated fat, and
- eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
Aim for six grams or less of salt a day. Don’t add salt to food, and read food labels when you’re shopping as many foods, including breakfast cereal and soup, contain added salt.
Saturated fat is contained in butter, ghee, lard, meat pies, fatty meat, sausages, cakes, biscuits and food containing coconut oil or palm oil.
“Many people know to avoid butter because it’s saturated fat, but if you have three biscuits with your morning coffee, you’re still getting saturated fat,” says Dr Mike.
Fruit and vegetables are good for health, whether they’re fresh, tinned, frozen, dried or juice.
Lose weight: Exercising and eating healthily will help you lose weight. Obesity increases your risk of hypertension, so it’s important to be a healthy weight for your height.
Limit your alcohol intake: The recommended healthy limits for alcohol are no more than three to four units a day for men, and no more than two to three units a day for women. Regularly drinking more than this puts will you at risk of high blood pressure.
One unit of alcohol is roughly half a pint of regular strength lager or one 125ml glass of wine.
Smoking: Although smoking doesn’t cause high blood pressure, it raises the risk of heart disease. Stopping smoking reduces this risk and is especially important if you have hypertension.
Medication: Some people with hypertension need to take medication to lower their blood pressure, in addition to adopting the healthy lifestyle changes above.
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