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high blood pressure smoking get checked go collect-min

How do I tell someone has it?

You cannot tell if someone has high blood pressure just by looking at them. You can feel well and still have high blood pressure. High blood pressure is very common. You can only know if you get checked by a medical professional.

Risk factors for high blood pressure include:

  • Being overweight
  • Eating a lot of salt
  • Eating a lot of fatty food
  • Having someone in your family with high blood pressure
  • Living an unhealthy lifestyle, especially smoking, drinking alcohol, lack of exercise and too much salt and sugar
  • Pregnancy, as some women have high blood pressure when they are pregnant

Can it be prevented?

An unhealthy lifestyle is one of the main causes of high blood pressure, so developing healthy habits will help lower your blood pressure.

Managing stress is also important, because getting upset makes you blood pressure go up, or worse, spike. Try deep breathing, listening to music, getting enough sleep or other activities that make you feel calm. This will not cure your condition, but it will stop your blood pressure from suddenly spiking. Talking to somebody about the things that worry you will also help.

How do I tell someone has it?

high blood pressure smoking get checked go collect-min

You cannot tell if someone has high blood pressure just by looking at them. You can feel well and still have high blood pressure. High blood pressure is very common. You can only know if you get checked by a medical professional.

Risk factors for high blood pressure include:

  • Being overweight
  • Eating a lot of salt
  • Eating a lot of fatty food
  • Having someone in your family with high blood pressure
  • Living an unhealthy lifestyle, especially smoking, drinking alcohol, lack of exercise and too much salt and sugar
  • Pregnancy, as some women have high blood pressure when they are pregnant

Can it be prevented?

An unhealthy lifestyle is one of the main causes of high blood pressure, so developing healthy habits will help lower your blood pressure.

Managing stress is also important, because getting upset makes you blood pressure go up, or worse, spike. Try deep breathing, listening to music, getting enough sleep or other activities that make you feel calm. This will not cure your condition, but it will stop your blood pressure from suddenly spiking. Talking to somebody about the things that worry you will also help.

With support from the U.S President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through the National Department of Health.

dept of health gov RSA Get Checked Go Collect Partners
PEPFAR Get Checked Go Collect Partners
Health Systems Trust Get Checked Go Collect Partners