Blood Pressure Testing

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Blood Pressure Testing - Chequerfield Pharmacy, Pontefract

What is blood pressure?

 

Your blood pressure varies throughout the day, due to your circadian rhythm (the body’s daily hormonal cycle), your activity levels, what you’ve eaten, stress, tiredness, hydration etc. Your body chooses when and where to increase pressure in your arteries as required. Blood pressure testing is a normal part of any check-up, measured in millimetres of mercury (mm Hg). It is a simple and effective way of monitoring the pressure with which your blood is being pumped through your arteries. It’s recommended that all adults over 40 years of age have their blood pressure tested at least every 5 years, so any potential problems can be detected early.

 

What are the types of blood pressure?

 

Hypertension, more commonly known as high blood pressure (140/90mm Hg or higher) puts more strain on your arteries as they lose their elasticity and they become hard and narrow. This narrowing makes atheroma (fatty cholesterol) easier to build up which can lead to risks of heart attacks and strokes. It can also be the cause of smaller blood vessels in different parts of the body. High blood pressure can also cause damage to vital organs as the high pressure impacts on soft tissue.

 

Hypotension, or low blood pressure (90/60mm Hg or lower), is less severe than high blood pressure with very little symptoms, but it can still put your body at risk of dizziness, sickness, weakness and fainting.

 

What can I do to lower my blood pressure?

 

If your blood pressure reading is between 120/80mm Hg and 140/90mm Hg then you may be at risk of developing high blood pressure. If this is detected, you will be asked to monitor your blood pressure regularly and you may be asked to have blood tests to determine if there is any damage to your kidneys or liver.

 

To help lower your blood pressure:

  • Decrease levels of salt consumption, increase intake of fruit, vegetables, fish and white meat.
  • Exercise well and regularly; you are recommended to do upwards of 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week.
  • Cut down or attempt to stop smoking as smoking narrows the arteries restricting blood flow.
  • Reduce or stop alcohol entirely as this also has an effect on blood flow.

If you’re due a blood pressure check-up, please drop in to Chequerfield Pharmacy, Pontefract today or give us a call.

Elaine Sutton
Elaine Sutton
Very friendly staff. Good service. Easy to get appointment for flu vaccine
patriciakrlic
patriciakrlic
Went for flu jab ,good service
Ashley Tatana
Ashley Tatana
Staff are always friendly. They remember your name (to me makes me feel valued). They are always very kind and understanding. They are a credit to the local community!
Carol Trueman
Carol Trueman
Excellent service! Staff are amazing.
Barbara Burden
Barbara Burden
A lot better than friarwood pharmacy for service.
Paul Johnston
Paul Johnston
Simply cannot express my gratitude for this place and the staff that work here. It’s such a friendly place, the staff are always eager to help and go above and beyond for you. It’s always nice to be greeted with a friendly smile but in these testing times it seems so much more important. Iv collected my mother’s prescriptions from here for a while now after moving from another pharmacy and they’re always ready promptly without any trouble, it’s always nice to have a chat and feel like a valued customer, great work team. And thank you for all your hard work it certainly doesn’t go unnoticed in the community.
Natalie
Natalie
Great service when I visited this week. The team were very efficient and professional. They also had very good covid safety practices in place that where being adhered to. This made me feel really at ease. Thank you