What is high blood pressure?
High blood pressure is a common condition in which the force of blood against your arteries walls is high enough that it may eventually cause health problems such as heart disease. Blood pressure is determined by the amount of blood your heart pumps and the amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries. The more blood your heart pumps and the narrower your arteries, the higher your blood pressure.
According to American Heart Association’s revised high blood pressure guidelines, blood pressure categories are as follows:
Normal: Less than 120/80mmHg
Elevated: Systolic 120-129mmHg, diastolic less than 80mmHg
Stage 1: Systolic 130-139 mmHg, diastolic 80-89mmHg
Stage 2: Systolic 140mmHg or higher, diastolic 90 or higher
Hypertensive crisis: Systolic 180mmHg or higher and or diastolic more than 120mmHg
What is Know Your Blood Pressure Campaign?
This is an initiative by Bongaka Health Care to encourage the public to know their blood pressure. We offer free blood pressure screening at our clinic to facilitate prevention, early detection and management of high blood pressure. You can walk-in at any time during working hours to have your blood pressure checked.
Why Know Your Blood Pressure Campaign?
- Blood pressure is known as a silent killer because it does not present with symptoms in the majority of people
- High blood pressure is the world’s leading risk of death and disability
- An estimated 4 out of 10 adults over the age of 25 have high blood pressure and about half of them are not aware of their blood pressure of being high
- The only way anyone will know whether they have high blood pressure is by checking it regularly
When does it take place?
You can walk-in at any time during working hours to have your blood pressure checked
How much does cost?
Blood pressure checks are free of charge
What are the symptoms?
- Most people are asymptomatic, even when blood pressure reading are dangerously high
- Dull headaches
- Dizzy spells
- More nose bleeds than normal
- These signs and symptoms usually don’t occur until high blood pressure have reached severe or life-threatening stage
What are the risk factors?
- Increasing age
- Black race
- Family history of high blood pressure
- Being overweight or obese
- Physical inactivity
- Using tobacco and second hand smoking
- Too much salt (sodium) in your diet
- Too little potassium in your diet
- Drinking too much alcohol
- Stress
- Certain chronic conditions such as kidney disease and sleep apnoea
What are the complications?
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Aneurysm
- Heart failure
- Weakened and narrow blood vessels in your kidneys, leading to kidney failure
- Thickened, narrow or torn blood vessels in the eyes, leading to bleeding at the back of eyes
- Metabolic syndrome
How can I prevention it?
- Eating a healthier diet with less salt and high potassium
- Exercising regularly
- Quitting smoking
- Losing weight
- Moderate alcohol intake
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