Thirty million adults in the UK could be at risk of serious health issues because they don’t check their blood pressure, according to new research. Commissioned by Benenden Health, the research found that as many as six in ten adults do not know their own reading, and a quarter don’t even realise what blood pressure is.
Even if they showed symptoms of high or low blood pressure, such as headaches, blackouts and dizziness, a quarter of respondents (26%) said they wouldn’t visit a GP, with a fifth (20%) of these saying they would put off by lengthy waiting times. A further one in five said they felt it would be important enough to seek medical support.
About a third of adults in the UK have high blood pressure, with many not realising it, which means that more than five million people are unaware of their increased risk of potentially deadly health conditions.
Unhealthy lifestyles, smoking and alcohol have a direct negative impact on our blood pressure but we can modify these. Ensuring we eat a sensible diet and move our bodies with purpose regularly, we can aim to keep our bodies at a healthy weight and fitness level – excess weight around the waist has a direct correlation with hypertension and poor cardiac outcomes.
The research comes ahead of Know Your Numbers week on the 7th to 13th of September, organised by the charity Blood Pressure UK.
Source: Benenden Health
