Get Your Blood Pressure Checked
Free tests at varous locations throughout Ealing
There's an opportunity to get your blood pressure checked locally( pdf) as part of a charity backed event this week.
Know Your Numbers is the largest annual blood pressure awareness event. This year’s theme is STOP Stroke. People with high blood pressure are three times more likely to have heart disease or a stroke compared to people with healthy blood pressure, and twice as likely to die from these conditions. In spite of the serious consequences associated with high blood pressure, over 5 million people have it and do not know it.
NHS staff will be running the Pop-Up Pressure Stations all week around the borough as part of the campaign, starting on Monday 18 September, up until Friday 22 September.
Anyone can turn up and get a free blood pressure check; there’s no need to book. At the Pressure Stations a trained NHS professional will assess you and tell you if your blood pressure is at a safe level. If it isn’t, they will advise you about what to do next. In most cases, this will be to book a GP appointment.
It is especially important to get regular blood pressure checks if you are a member of a group that has been identified as having a higher than average risk of high blood pressure. These groups are: people over 55 years old, people from an African-Caribbean background, and people from a South Asian background.
For anyone who is worried about their blood pressure but missed the Pop-Up Pressure Stations or isn’t around this week, we advise you to book an appointment with your GP today.
Dr Mohini Parmar, Chair of NHS Ealing Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said: “One in three adults in the UK have high blood pressure, and yet over 5 million people do not know that their blood pressure is too high. People with high blood pressure are three times more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke than a person with healthy blood pressure.
“The NHS in Ealing agrees with Blood Pressure UK that we can and we must do more. By running these Pop-Up Pressure Stations around the local community, we hope to make it quick and easy for people to check their blood pressure and get their health back on track.”
September 20 2017