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Blood pressure awareness week – 6th-12th September 2021

Monday 6th September 2021

This week is blood pressure awareness week and we are shining a light on blood pressure, what it is, and some of the things that we can do to help keep our blood pressure in a healthy range. 

When your heart beats it pumps blood around your body. As the blood moves it pushes against the insides of your blood vessels and if the strength of the pushing is too hard it can cause raised blood pressure.  Raised blood pressure (hypertension) can affect the body in many ways including causing damage to the heart, to blood vessels, and to other organs. Living with hypertension can have serious consequences and may lead to strokes, heart attacks and other health conditions. Around 1/3 of people living in the UK are living with raised blood pressure. Many people are not aware that they have raised blood pressure, or hypertension, as the condition often has no symptoms.

 

Know Your Numbers!

This year the charity Blood Pressure UK are encouraging people to “Know Their Numbers” You can find out more information about blood pressure ranges and readings, and the different ways that you can find out your blood pressure readings.

 

Raised blood pressure

Not everyone reacts to the known risk factors for hypertension in the same way. We do know that 3 key messages can help many people to make changes which improves their risk, not only for hypertension, but other related conditions:

  • Carry out regular exercise and activity
  • Try to eat a healthy diet
  • Try to reach and maintain a healthier weight

 

When it comes to dietary changes there are a few quick wins that can make a difference:

  • try to include fruit and veg with every meal and aim for at least 5 portions each day where possible
  • eat more wholegrains such as wholemeal bread,
  • don’t include  more than 6g of salt a day in your food and drink intake (adult limit – children should aim for lower limits)
  • aim to reduce the amount of saturated fats that you include in your food intake.

We have included a few links below so that you can get more information about how food and drink affects your risk, and how you can start to make changes to improve your health.
 

For more information please see the following links: