If you are over the age of 30 and can’t
remember when you last had your blood pressure checked, you could be one
of the 7 to 10 million people in this country who has high blood pressure.
Doctors usually use the term ‘hypertension’ to describe this condition
which may cause no symptoms at all for many years, but could eventually
lead to serious complications, including heart disease and strokes.
The most important message on hypertension is that, unless you have your
blood pressure checked, you may not know that you have hypertension until
it has done you harm.
Professor D.G. Beevers is Professor of Medicine
and Consultant Physician to the City Hospital, Birmingham. He is past president
of the British Hypertension Society and a founder of the Journal of Hypertension.
His main interests are in clinical aspects of raised blood pressure and
the importance of a population based approach.
