Angela Macleod: Deaths from the silent killer can be prevented

IT IS a worrying fact that about 40 per cent of strokes could be prevented if high blood pressure was identified. Even more worrying is that more than half of adults in Scotland do not know that high blood pressure is the single biggest risk factor for having a stroke.

In most instances, high blood pressure can be treated effectively once it is discovered and many thousands of deaths and disabling strokes could be prevented each year in Scotland if only we could raise public awareness of the factors contributing to high blood pressure and the need for regular checks.

Often referred to as the “silent killer”, high blood pressure or hypertension, as it is known, is a condition that is often ignored, misunderstood and underestimated, despite being present in so many lives and in all areas of our society.

Ivan Williams, from Stirling, knows only too well of the importance of normal blood pressure in maintaining good health. He was close to a potential major incident such as a stroke, when his dangerously high blood pressure was picked up at one of the Stroke Association’s Know Your Blood Pressure events in Glasgow.

Being a fit and healthy man, Ivan didn’t think high blood pressure might apply to him, and he didn’t indulge in the activities which can often lead to high blood pressure and stroke such as smoking, poor diet, excessive drinking and not exercising. In Ivan’s case, we don’t know what caused his high blood pressure but, in most cases, the presence of risk factors, such as those mentioned above, will contribute greatly.

The important point to make is that high blood pressure and strokes are preventable, so we need to do more to help raise awareness.

The Scottish Government and NHS Scotland support health promotion and anticipatory care initiatives to support healthy lives and there are a number of guidelines in Scotland to support reduction of risk factors for hypertension.

Ivan, who is now only too aware of this issue, welcomes The Stroke Association’s Know Your Blood Pressure awareness campaign that provides blood pressure testing to members of the public.

For more information visit www.stroke.org.uk/kybp.

• Angela Macleod, is communications manager at Stroke Association in Scotland.