{"id":8452,"date":"2022-07-27T02:01:59","date_gmt":"2022-07-27T01:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationalhealthcentres.com\/en1\/?p=8452"},"modified":"2022-07-28T16:33:06","modified_gmt":"2022-07-28T15:33:06","slug":"how-a-simple-blood-pressure-test-could-save-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalhealthcentres.com\/en\/2022\/07\/27\/how-a-simple-blood-pressure-test-could-save-your-life\/","title":{"rendered":"How a simple blood pressure test could save your life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>To mark\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whleague.org\/about-us\/world-hypertension-day\">World Hypertension Day<\/a>\u00a0on 17th May, we\u2019re talking about the blood pressure test, available at\u00a0our practice. Here, your GP discusses the ins and outs of hypertension, and urges everyone to take the test which could potentially save you from the silent killer.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting to the heart of the problem<\/h2>\n<p>A blood pressure test quite simply measures the pressure inside your arteries as your heart pumps blood. Of course, your blood pressure changes continually depending on a whole range of things such as how active you are, your diet, temperature, emotional state, or current medication, for example.<\/p>\n<p>However, when resting, we would expect to see your blood pressure sit within a certain range. Figures outside this range can be an indication of a health issue.<\/p>\n<h2>Putting it to the test<\/h2>\n<p>A blood pressure test takes just minutes to complete. First, you\u2019ll be asked a few questions about your medical history, general health, and lifestyle. Rest assured,\u00a0we\u2019ll ensure\u00a0you\u2019re fully\u00a0comfortable and relaxed before commencing the test.<\/p>\n<p>Second, we\u2019ll\u00a0ask you to rest one arm on a table,\u00a0and we\u2019ll\u00a0place a fabric cuff around your upper arm.\u00a0We\u2019ll then\u00a0inflate the cuff using a small hand-held pump, and as the cuff deflates, a machine will read your blood pressure and display the numbers on a screen.<\/p>\n<p>The whole process takes just a minute and the results will be provided immediately.\u00a0You\u2019ll\u00a0be given plenty of time to ask questions and, depending on your results, you\u2019ll be carefully guided through the next steps, should any further action be required.<\/p>\n<h2>Figuratively speaking<\/h2>\n<p>A healthy blood pressure reading should be around 120\/80mmHg. Anything significantly above or below that level will need to be investigated. For instance, a\u00a0figure of 140\/90 or higher would suggest high blood pressure, also known as hypertension.\u00a0On the other hand,\u00a0a figure of 90\/60 or lower would suggest low blood pressure, also known as hypotension.<\/p>\n<h2>Rising tension<\/h2>\n<p>High blood pressure is thought to affect around 1 in 3 adults, leaving them more at risk of heart problems, strokes, kidney disease, and damage to other vital organs.<\/p>\n<p>Certain groups are classed as being more at risk than others. They include those who:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Are age 60+<\/li>\n<li>Have a family history of high blood pressure or heart disease<\/li>\n<li>Are overweight<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t exercise regularly<\/li>\n<li>Are of Asian or African-Caribbean descent<\/li>\n<li>Have a diet high in salt<\/li>\n<li>Have a diet low in fruit and vegetables<\/li>\n<li>Drink more than 2-3 units of alcohol a day for women, or 3-4 units for men<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, it must be emphasised that all adults are at risk of high blood pressure and it is therefore vitally important that we all take steps to reduce our risk where possible.<\/p>\n<h2>Time to take the test<\/h2>\n<p>Many sufferers of high blood pressure don\u2019t experience any symptoms, hence the reason hypertension is often referred to as \u2018the silent killer\u2019. Therefore,\u00a0a blood pressure test is the only way to detect the problem.<\/p>\n<p>We recommend those classed as high-risk have a blood pressure test every year. For everyone else aged over 40, we recommend you have a blood pressure test every 5 years.<\/p>\n<p>A 5-minute test can keep you safe.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/internationalhealthcentres.com\/en\/book-an-appointment\/\">Book an appointment with us.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To mark\u00a0World Hypertension Day\u00a0on 17th May, we\u2019re talking about the blood pressure test, available at\u00a0our practice. Here, your GP discusses the ins and outs of hypertension, and urges everyone to take the test which could potentially save you from the silent killer. Getting to the heart of the problem A blood pressure test quite simply [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mental-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalhealthcentres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalhealthcentres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalhealthcentres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalhealthcentres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalhealthcentres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/internationalhealthcentres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalhealthcentres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalhealthcentres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalhealthcentres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalhealthcentres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}