Health Info

Health Info

High blood pressure is the main risk factor for stroke and a major risk factor for heart attack, heart failure and kidney disease. There is also increasing evidence that it is a risk factor for vascular dementia.

One in three adults in the general population have high blood pressure.

Around a third of people with high blood pressure do not know that they have it, as there are no obvious symptoms. This is why it is often called the 'silent killer'.

High blood pressure is a level consistently at or above 140mmHg and/or 90mmHg.

31 per cent of men and 28 per cent of women have high blood pressure.

People with high blood pressure are three times more likely to develop heart disease and stroke and twice as likely to die from these as people with a normal blood pressure.

High blood pressure rarely has any symptoms, the only way for people to know if they have the condition is to have their blood pressure regularly measured.