The problem with hypertension is that most people have no symptoms. Because of this it can be untreated over many years leading to a high risk of complications.

Occasionally people may experience:

• headaches when it’s extremely high
• light-headedness, particularly after standing up quickly when it’s low

What causes it?

For most people there is no single underlying cause – a few diseases can cause extremely high blood pressure but for most people there is no obvious cause. It is more common in people who are overweight or inactive, or who have a family history of high blood pressure. However, it can happen to anybody.

Very common and it gets more likely as you get older. In the very old, or people with frailty, treating high blood pressure may cause more problems than it solves. But for most people lowering blood pressure reduces the risk of other problems like heart attacks and strokes.

How is it diagnosed?

One-off readings of blood pressure in a clinic or hospital can be misleading, so in general it’s best to get more than one reading. Ideally this would be done either by a week of home blood pressure checks (twice a day at similar times) or, even better, by wearing a 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitor.

How is it treated?

Treatment depends on how high the blood pressure is. For mild hypertension without other associated problems, it’s usually best to try reducing salt, taking regular exercise and gradual weight loss first before using medications.