Approximately one billion people worldwide currently have high blood pressure and this number is expected to increase by more than 50 per cent by 2025. Globally hypertension is the third leading cause of death and hypertension-related deaths are expected to rise drastically in the coming decades.
Anyone can be at risk for developing high blood pressure. Although most people will experience high blood pressure at some time in their life, some people are at higher risk for developing chronic or long-term hypertension.
Smoking, excess alcohol consumption, emotional stress, poor diet and/or lack of exercise, and obesity can all play a prominent role in increasing your risk.
In addition to these preventable factors, genetics, age, ethnic origin and gender can also contribute to our susceptibility to develop high blood pressure, and so a family history of hypertension often indicates that the chances of hypertension are higher.
However, there are many key risk factors that we can control including:
- Diet, in particular, our intake of fat and sodium
- Exercise and stress management
- Tobacco and alcohol use.
Lastly, although it is usually associated with the elderly and even though the incidence of high blood pressure increases with age, hypertension is a disease that can occur at any age.
Regular blood pressure monitoring in the home is an essential part of any prevention programme so you and your physician can build up an accurate picture of your health
The good news is that hypertension is a preventable disease. There are many steps that you can take to reduce your risk. Regular blood pressure monitoring in the home is an essential part of any prevention programme so you and your physician can build up an accurate picture of your health.
Home blood pressure monitoring is now easier with OMRON’s unique M6 Comfort automatic digital blood pressure monitor with Intelli Wrap Cuff Technology. This technology helps to reduce the inaccuracy caused by incorrect cuff positioning, known to be a key source of error in home blood pressure measurement. The Intelli Wrap Cuff is also pre-formed which makes it easier to put on to your arm with one hand, making blood pressure measurement even more simple. In addition it also comes with:
- Easy blood pressure level indicator – an LED indicator which shows hypertension levels of normal (green) or high (red)
- Body movement detection indicator indicates when measurement is compromised by movement during measurement
- Irregular heartbeat detection which indicates if irregular heartbeat is detected
- Morning hypertension allows you to track whether your morning measurement is different from the rest of the day and an averaging mode produces three consecutive readings in ten minutes
- Cuff wrap guide which indicates when the cuff is too loose to avoid inaccuracies.
OMRON M6 Comfort with Intelli Wrap Cuff has a recommended retail price of £99.95 and is available from Amazon.
