Getting your blood pressure checked could save your life – that’s the message behind a national campaign Ealing Council and partners are supporting this month.

High blood pressure usually has no symptoms but is thought to cause 60% of strokes and 40% of heart attacks. One in ten Ealing residents are aware that they have high blood pressure but another one in ten do not realise that they have the condition.

People with high blood pressure are three times more likely to develop heart disease and stroke and twice as likely to die from these as people with a normal blood pressure.

That is why the council’s public health team and partners including Ealing NHS Clinical Commissioning Group and the Local Pharmaceutical Committee are urging people to get their blood pressure checked during Know Your Numbers! Week, 12-18 September 2016. The national campaign is run by the charity Blood Pressure UK.

Free blood pressure checks will be available during the week at 24 blood pressure venues across borough including pharmacies, Acton Market, leisure and sports centres and Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre.

Anyone who has their blood pressure taken during Know Your Numbers week will be given their results and advised to visit a GP for further support if neccessary. Councillor Hitesh Tailor, cabinet member for health and adult services, had his blood pressure checked at Mattock Lane Pharmacy in Ealing, one of the venues hosting checks during Know Your Numbers Week.

He said: "High blood pressure is known as the ‘silent killer’ because so many seemingly healthy people don’t know they have it as there are no symptoms. Every year around 62,000 people in the UK die from stroke and heart attacks due to poor blood pressure control. Having your blood pressure checked is free, quick and painless and could save your life. I would urge anyone who hasn’t had a recent blood pressure check to do so by visiting one of our blood pressure stations or by booking an appointment at their local surgery."

"Finding out that you have high blood pressure can be worrying, but it is a condition which if carefully controlled through medication, healthy eating and other lifestyle changes can significantly reduce your chances of stroke or heart disease. Watching what you eat, being active and not smoking can also help avoid getting high blood pressure in the first place."

To find out where your nearest Know Your Numbers blood pressure check is and for advice on how to reduce your blood pressure, visit : www.bloodpressureuk.org