Do You Know Your Blood Pressure?

It is blood pressure awareness month and the perfect time to reveal that most of us have absolutely no idea what our blood pressure is at any given time. According to a survey by Kinetik Wellbeing, only 40% of millennials out of the 2000 participants asked, could determine what a healthy blood pressure reading is, whereas older generations had more of an idea. With a predicted 16 million people having high blood pressure and only seven million of those knowing about it, it seems that there needs to be more education around our blood pressure readings - especially in millennials!

So what is blood pressure and why should you know about it?

When your heart beats, it pumps blood around the body to give it the energy and oxygen it needs. As the blood moves around the body it pushes against the sides of the blood vessels. The strength of this pushing is your blood pressure. If your blood pressure is found to be too high; it will put extra strain on your arteries and heart and this can then lead to heart attacks and stroke.

There are often no signs of having high blood pressure and you may not know until you check your readings. Blood pressure is read in two numbers. The first number (or the top number) is your systolic blood pressure and is the highest level that your blood pressure will reach when your heart beats. The bottom number or diastolic blood pressure is the lowest level it will reach while your heart relaxes between beats.

A normal blood pressure reading should be similar to 120/80.

So how can you find out your blood pressure? Superdrug and Kinetik Wellbeing have partnered to offer you a blood pressure check. Just head to a Superdrug Pharmacy store.

If you want to check your own blood pressure a home or want to keep a record of it you can purchase a Kinetik Advanced Blood Pressure Monitor X2 Comfort. The latest in blood pressure technology, the Kinetik monitors are so easy to use with a comfortable pre-formed cuff and stand. They even have an inbuilt family setting meaning that if you wish to track your blood pressure over a period of time it will record and store 3 separate users at a time so you can keep an eye on the health of others too!