Have you ever had your blood pressure checked?

If yes, do you get it checked regularly?

Put simply, blood pressure is the amount of pressure in your arteries when blood is pumped through them.

The size and condition of your arteries, combined with the amount of blood pumped by your heart determines your blood pressure. When the arteries are narrow, the heart has to work extra hard to get the same amount of blood pumped around the body. This puts strain on the heart.

Your blood pressure is presented as two values e.g 120 / 80. The top reading is systolic, so the amount of pressure in the heart when the heart is contracting. The bottom value, diastolic is the amount of pressure in the arteries when the heart is relaxed.

Blood pressure is asymptomatic, so you wont know if you have high blood pressure unless you get it checked. It should also be checked regularly as it can change.

Do you freak out and get nervous at the doctor’s office? If so, you may have ‘white coat syndrome’, if you get anxious going to the doctor, you may find your bp skyrocket, not giving an accurate reading.

My Dad suffers from this white collar syndrome so much so that years ago when getting his blood pressure taken at the doctors it gave a ridiculously high reading. They actually thought Dad was having a heart attack it was so high. Suffice to say he invested in his own bp machine so he could monitor at home when more relaxed. 

If you get nervous at the doctor’s it might be a good idea to invest in your own blood pressure machine and monitor your bp form the comfort of your own home. Even if you don’t it’s a good investment so you can keep an eye on things. You can purchase a bp machine from pharmacies, they are quite reasonable in price and easy to use. Monitor yourself regularly just not a good idea after exercise.

The general guidelines for blood pressure:

100/60 = low   120/80 = normal    140+/90 = high, borderline hypertensive

Keep in mind that these are general guidelines only and that everybody is different and will therefore have different readings. Speak to your gp if you are concerned.

Uncontrolled high blood pressure can overload the heart and blood vessels and speed up the artery clogging process.

Following are some of the causes of high blood pressure:

• Being overweight

• Excess alcohol

• High salt diet

• Being inactive 

• High trans fat diet

• High stress

• Family history

You can keep your blood pressure at a healthy level by maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, managing stress, reducing salt intake and restricting alcohol intake.

Your blood pressure gives an insight as to what’s going on in your body. Wouldn’t you want to know?