What's your number?
We’re asking everyone in our area to find out the answer to a simple but important question: What’s your number? Please use this page to find out why high blood pressure matters, who is at higher risk, and how to get your blood pressure checked quickly and easily.
How can I get my blood pressure checked?
It is quick and easy to get your blood pressure checked. We’ve listed the main routes to get a blood pressure test below.
Visit your local pharmacy
96% of pharmacies in our area offer free blood pres sure checks . These are open to anyone aged 40 or over who have not previously been diagnosed with high blood pressure. Younger people and people who have previously had a hypertension diagnosis can also get a free blood pressure check at their pharmacy if they are referred directly by their GP practice.
You don’t have to book an appointment to access blood pressure checks at your pharmacy. Just walk in when you’re free. The relatively relaxed environment of a pharmacy can be helpful for some people, particularly if more clinical settings make you a little anxious which could impact your blood pressure reading.
You can find a pharmacy near you that offers blood pressure checks via the NHS website .
Contact your GP practice
You can contact your GP practice to get your blood pressure checked if you think you might have high blood pressure, or might be at risk of having high blood pressure.
You will be asked to book an appointment to get your blood pressure checked. The test itself only takes a few minutes. If you do have high blood pressure, your GP practice can give you advice and support to reduce it to healthy levels.
Use a blood pressure machine at home
You may want to consider buying your own blood pressure machine for your household. You could share this device with adult family members and friends. Blood pressure machines are increasingly inexpensive. The British Heart Foundation has a list of approved blood pressure machines online.
Using a machine at home is simple and quick. Once you have taken a measurement from both arms, please take the highest reading to your local pharmacy or GP surgery, or upload it directly via your GP surgery’s online portal if this is an option for your practice.
Use a S elf-Service Health Check Kiosk
Cambridgeshire County Council has put two S elf-Service Health Check K iosk s in place, in March Library and Huntingdon Library. These kiosks are self-service stations that can be used to measure your blood pressure as well as a number of other things, including your BMI, your resting heart rate, and your body fat percentage.
The kiosks are open to everyone, no matter your age or background, and can be used free of charge during the libraries’ opening hours .
If a kiosk does identify that you may have high blood pressure, you’ll be asked to discuss this with your GP practice.
What is high blood pressure?
We all have blood pressure. Blood pressure is what helps blood move around our bodies.
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, happens when the pressure that moves your blood around your body gets too high. When your blood pressure is consistently high, your arteries lose their stretchiness and become stiff and narrow – leading to a risk of fatty materials building up in your arteries.
Why is high blood pressure dangerous?
High blood pressure in itself usually doesn’t cause any symptoms, but it can lead to very serious health issues. This includes stroke, heart attacks, kidney failure and vascular dementia.
Estimates suggest that there are up to 8 million people in the UK who have undiagnosed or uncontrolled blood pressure. When high blood pressure is identified the NHS can offer advice and support to help you get your blood pressure back to healthy levels – but with so many people unaware that they’ve got high blood pressure, millions of people could be at risk of heart attacks and other life-threatening issues without knowing it.
Who is at higher risk of high blood pressure?
Whilst anyone can have high blood pressure, some of us are more at risk of hypertension than others. Risk factors that impact your likelihood of having high blood pressure are:
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Your age – your risk gets higher as you get older
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Family history of high blood pressure
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Your ethnic background – people from Black African, Black Car i b bean and South Asian backgrounds are more likely to have high blood pressure
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Having an unhealthy diet
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Being overweight
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Smoking, or drinking too much alcohol
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Feeling high levels of stress over a long period of time
If you think you may be at higher risk of high blood pressure, please get your blood pressure checked – it’s quick and easy, and it might save your life.