Blood Pressure Monitoring
What is Blood Pressure?Everyone has blood pressure. It shows the amount of work that your heart must do to pump blood around the body. Two numbers measure your level of blood pressure. The top number records blood pressure when the pressure is at its highest as your heart muscle squeezes out the blood from your heart - this is called systolic pressure. Then your heart relaxes, which allows the blood to flow back into your heart - this is called diastolic pressure. The normal level of blood pressure is usually about 120 (systolic) over 80 (diastolic). This would be recorded as 120/80. The only way to know if you have high blood pressure is to get it measured. Most people with high blood pressure (medically known as hypertension) will feel fine and not notice any symptoms. In over 90% of cases, the cause of high blood pressure (hypertension) is unknown but several factors can increase your risk of developing the condition. It may be inherited or related to diet and sedentary lifestyle. Also, blood pressure tends to increase as you age.
Measuring your Blood Pressure
The screening is a quick process whereby a cuff is attached to your arm and measures the flow of blood. Our highly trained pharmacists then interpret the information given out by the machine.
Why measure your Blood Pressure?
Hypertension is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. This puts extra strain on your heart and blood vessels. If untreated, over time this extra pressure can increase your risk of a heart attack, stroke and kidney disease. Such serious events occur at a younger age in people with high blood pressure than in people with normal blood pressure. High blood pressure also increases the risk of damage to the blood vessels in your eyes. The first step to improving your blood pressure is to know it. Call in to get your blood pressure checked.