Almost half of people who have high blood pressure don’t know it. If your blood pressure is too high, it puts extra strain on your blood vessels, heart, and other organs. This can increase your risk of serious health conditions such as heart attacks and strokes. The only way to find out if you have high blood pressure is to have a blood pressure check.

Blood pressure is the term used to describe the strength with which your blood pushes on the sides of your arteries as it's pumped around your body. It is recorded with two numbers. The first (or top) number is the pressure when your heart contracts/squeezes. This is called the systolic pressure. The second (or bottom) number is when your heart relaxes between the beats. This is called the diastolic pressure. They’re both measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg).

The ‘ideal’ range is systolic pressure (the top number) between 90-120 and the diastolic pressure (the bottom number) between 60-80. A high reading is considered to be 140/90mmHg or higher.

Once you know your numbers, you can be supported to make healthy lifestyle changes that can reduce your chances of high blood pressure and help lower it as well. This means your risk of serious conditions will decrease. Find out more about what you can do to reduce your risk and make some small changes.

You can get a free blood pressure check at a number of community pharmacies across Royal Greenwich. Look at the map below to find your nearest one.

Cllr Denise Scott-McDonald, Cabinet Member for Health and Adults’ Social Care, said: 

“We are encouraging everyone in the borough and Royal Borough of Greenwich staff members to get their blood pressure checked during Know Your Numbers Week, and beyond.

It’s important to know if you have high blood pressure so you can make small changes to lower it. Small healthy lifestyle changes can make a big difference to your blood pressure and health.”

Find out more about high blood pressure on the NHS website.