Over half of the adult population of Ireland who are over 45 years of age have high blood pressure, and to put it boldly; untreated high blood pressure
-Can kill or
-Leave you your life severely compromised due to;
Heart attack, Stroke, Kidney Disease and believe it or not Dementia (as if life wasn’t doing it’s best to dement us anyway!).
However statistics, provided by the Irish Heart Foundation, tell us that;
4 in every 5 men, &
2 in every 3 women
are not being treated for their high blood pressure.
You can’t have treatment until you have it checked and the Irish Heart Foundation recommend that anyone over 30 has their blood pressure checked at least once a year.
BUT I FEEL FINE……you say…..
Here’s the thing, you do feel fine & fit but that doesn’t mean you don’t have high blood pressure which is silently
placing your heart, your blood vessels and your kidneys under severe pressure.
So, please, do yourself and your family a favour by getting your blood pressure checked!
Normal blood pressure is quoted as 120/80 mm Hg, which means that the pressure is @ 120 mm Hg when it pumps and at 80 mm Hg when it relaxes.
Anything higher than 140/90 mm Hg should be treated to prevent serious health issues.
Sometimes high blood pressure runs in families and no matter how healthy your lifestyle is you may still need to take medication and it is SO WORTH IT.
What else can you do besides take medication?
-Reduce salt
-Reduce alcohol
-Reduce weight
-Reduce fat in your diet
-Exercise for at least 30 mins per day, 5 days a week.
Reducing salt is key, too much salt in the body causes it to retain extra water which ups your blood pressure and can prevent some blood pressure tablets from working properly.
Look at the Irish Heart Foundations recipes for a low salt diet. Food may seem a little bland at the start but after a few weeks your taste buds will have adjusted.
With respect to alcohol, men need to keep their intake below 17 standard drinks per week and women below 11, REMEMBER…
–One pint = 2 standard drinks &
–One bottle of wine = 7 standard drinks
–100ml (small glass) of wine = 1 standard drink
–1 pub measure of spirits = 1 standard drink
Check up on all tips and facts on line with the Irish Heart Foundation.
