Get Checked to prevent silent killer
- By Elaine Bird
- 28 January 2020
- North-West Norfolk
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Nearly 130,000 people in Norfolk and Waveney are expected to have high blood pressure that has not been diagnosed.
Dubbed the ‘silent killer’ due to the lack of obvious symptoms, high blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart attack or heart disease if left unchecked. To tackle this, the launch of Get Checked across Norfolk and Waveney, encourages everyone to have their blood pressure checked.
The campaign is urging anyone who is worried about their blood pressure to go to one of the participating community pharmacies for a check. They can be found here: www.norfolk.gov.uk/getchecked.
They are working with selected community pharmacies to diagnose more people who have high blood pressure and follow this up with appropriate treatment from local GPs. This initiative is a great example of partnership working and has been developed by the NHS in Norfolk and Waveney, community pharmacies and Public Health.
Dr Louise Smith, Director of Public Health said: “High blood pressure is a condition that can be managed through medication and changes in lifestyle, but it can only happen if the individual knows they have it. Very often the first time somebody may realise they have high blood pressure is once they have had a stroke or experienced a heart attack. Keeping to a healthy weight, reducing the salt in your diet and drinking less alcohol can reduce your risk of high blood pressure. This campaign aims to prevent these kind life threatening conditions through early intervention and helping people in Norfolk understand how they can lower their blood pressure if needed.”
Participating pharmacies are taking part in the Get Checked and offering repeater blood pressure checks and a 7 day blood pressure check. They will also be able to refer to GPs as and when needed.
To check where your nearest participating pharmacy is visit www.norfolk.gov.uk/getchecked or to take part in the NHS Heart Age tool to find out how old your heart really is visit www.nhs.uk/oneyou/for-your-body/check-your-health/heart-age-test/