NI woman says a blood pressure check probably saved her life

Justine’s high blood pressure was detected after she attended a workplace health check, carried out by local health charity, Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke (NICHS). She is sharing her story on World Hypertension Day ( May 15) in support of the charity’s current blood pressure awareness campaign.

She said: “My employer had organised for Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke to come to our workplace in Belfast to carry out health checks in March. I saw this as an opportunity to get things checked either for peace of mind or a nudge to change something. I had a similar check back in 2019 and although my blood pressure was elevated, it was nowhere near a critical level.

“My check was carried out by a lady called Valerie from NICHS’s Health Promotion team. She was lovely and had a very professional and caring manner. Valerie explained what the health check would involve and that the blood pressure check would be at the end. My results from the other tests were all great. I had a metabolic age of 40 and at 54 I was delighted to hear that.”

But when it came to the blood pressure check, she was told it was ‘dangerously high’.

Justine recalls: “It took a moment for the news that it was that high to sink in. I hadn’t experienced anything, no symptoms or warning signs, which would have made me concerned about my blood pressure or health in general. It came as a complete shock.

“I saw my doctor the next day and he was fantastic. He checked me over, and given my previous history of elevated blood pressure, he prescribed medication right away. He explained that for me, it was not a case of trying lifestyle changes to make a difference to my blood pressure such as losing weight or reducing my salt intake. The nurse took my bloods to get a baseline and I had to go back two weeks later for a review and an ECG. The doctor was happy with everything, so I was advised to keep taking my medication as prescribed and go back in a month for a further check-up.”

Reflecting on her diagnosis, Justine says; “At first, I thought, ‘it might not really be that serious because I can't feel anything, I feel fine’, but that's the thing many people don't realise, you don’t necessarily have symptoms when your blood pressure is through the roof. I had experienced absolutely no signs that would have made me concerned about my blood pressure. I have been wearing a fitness tracker watch for years and it measures heart rate, but I didn’t realise quite how different that is to monitoring your blood pressure...just because your heart rate and other vitals are ok, your blood pressure might not be. That is why it is so important to check it. If you don’t and it is high, it could then sadly be too late. Finding out about my high blood pressure really could have saved my life as I was able to seek medical help.

“I also think people don’t realise that these things can happen at an early age. I am 54 and was leading a normal, healthy, relatively active life but my high blood pressure could have hit me like a brick. I could have had a heart attack or stroke which would be life-changing.”

Thankfully, Justine is responding to her treatment plan and is looking to the future.

“I am walking a lot and enjoying Tai Chi and hope that with time I can get back to doing more intensive exercise like hiking in the Mournes, but that is something I will discuss with my doctor first.”Fidelma Carter, head of Public Health at NICHS, says: “Over 280,000 people, or around one in five of the adult population in Northern Ireland, are living with high blood pressure but there is a significant number of people, around 120,000, who have high blood pressure and do not realise it. Shockingly, this means at least a quarter of the adult population here live with high blood pressure. This gives us great cause for concern due to the fact one in two heart attacks and strokes are linked to the condition and it is something our current blood pressure awareness campaign aims to change.”

“Undetected high blood pressure is often known as ‘The Silent Killer’ due to the fact it rarely causes any physical symptoms or warning signs and is often only discovered after someone suffers a stroke or heart attack. The only way to know what your blood pressure is, and if it is high, is to have it measured and that is what we are urging the public to do this World Hypertension Day, and beyond.”

“A blood pressure check is simple and only takes a few minutes, but it really could help save your life. You can make an appointment with your GP or visit your local pharmacy which may operate a blood pressure monitoring service. You could also buy a blood pressure machine for home monitoring. Alternatively, you could attend the free pop-up blood pressure checks we will be delivering at selected stores of our corporate partner MACE during the campaign. The NICHS Health Promotion team will also be at Abbey Centre shopping centre today (May 17) from 11am until 3pm providing pop-up blood pressure checks to shoppers. Our website (www.nichs.org.uk/highbloodpressure) and social media channels will have all the details about future pop-up checks so please follow us online for more details.”