High blood pressure (BP) or hypertension is a health condition that makes no attempt to call attention to itself. It remains quiet in your body wreaking damage silently. By the time you realise that something is wrong, many a times, it could be too late.
“Some people get headaches as a result of having blood pressure, but they do not realise it is a symptom of BP. They attribute the headaches to stress,” says Dr Rajeev Lochan, specialist interventional cardiologist, International Modern Hospital.
He suggests that everyone over the age of 35 get their blood pressure checked every two years. If you are detected to be a borderline case, the GP will advice how often you need to get the check-up done, he says. Those in the 60-65-year bracket should get a check-up every three to six months, he advises.
“There are more than one million people worldwide suffering from high BP. We need to detect people’s condition faster and earlier. Doctors have been given guidelines so that people everywhere get the same treatment,” he says.
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