In the summer of 2021, while feeling totally fit and well, I suffered a stroke as a result of high blood pressure. I had never even considered that I may need to get my blood pressure checked. Fortunately I made an excellent recovery. It is important to get blood pressure checked as a preventative measure. medication can so easily prevent a catastrophic stroke.
Anne, from Tewin in Hertfordshire
“My blood pressure was measured at an event last summer and was slightly high. I started to get headaches during the winter and put two and two together and had it checked again. It had gone up into the range where it needed treatment. My advice would be – just find out if you have high blood pressure and deal with it, through improving your lifestyle changes and if necessary taking drugs. You might, like me, find you actually have slightly more time because you feel more energetic.”
Dr Mark Lim, Associate Medical Director, Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB
David (not his real name), works for the NHS and came along to Watford Football Club in September for a special ‘Hornets Together’ evening helping fans of the club improve their health.
David says: “I was aware that I had not had my blood pressure taken for many years. In general I am fit and well, rarely attend my GP practice and despite working within healthcare, did not give my blood pressure too much thought.
“Whilst we are both season ticket holders, my partner really is a huge Watford fan and has been for very many years, going right back to her schooldays when she would meet the players in the café on Vicarage Road at lunchtimes, so when I saw the blood pressure event in a newsletter at work and noticed that a stadium tour was included, I suggested to her that we go along. So I was mainly doing it to get behind the scenes at the stadium!
“After an informative talk from a doctor about the dangers of high blood pressure, we all had our blood pressure checked. After five readings on three different monitors I was told that that I had dangerously high blood pressure and was advised to seek urgent medical attention. I saw my GP the next day and was immediately prescribed medication to try and bring my blood pressure down to a more manageable level. We are still in the process of working out the medication and dosage to manage my condition, however had not gone to the event I would not have known how dangerously high my blood pressure was. I had none of the lifestyle risk factors associated with high blood pressure and no symptoms whatsoever.“I am now aware of my blood pressure and have bought a blood pressure machine to take my readings at home and keep an eye on it. It’s also made me think more about the risk factors that contribute to my high blood pressure, which for me is stress, and I am working to keep my stress levels down and reduce the impact on my blood pressure.
“Even if you think you are fit and strong, please take time to find out what your blood pressure is – a quick check can keep you alive!”
David, NHS staff member from Hertfordshire
Broadwater Dental in Stevenage is one of fourteen dental practices and opticians that are delivering blood pressure checks to their patients as part of a pilot project.
More than 250 checks have been carried out there since October 2024 on patients who had come in to see the dentists, including Dr Sonal Patel.
“When the patients come in for a check-up we have been asking them if they would also like to have a blood pressure check while they are here.
“Most of our patients are aged over 40 I would say so that fits in very well with the group of people the ICB have been trying to encourage to get a check.
“And on the whole, when we have offered one to the patients they were interested in having it done and admit they may not have found the time to do it otherwise,” she added.
Nurses at the practice were trained, along with dentists, to do the checks which were carried out once the routine dental check-up had been completed to make sure the patients felt relaxed and calm.
Advice was given to those who received higher readings and the practice later followed up with them to find out how they were doing.
Dr Patel says offering the checks has been a positive experience for the practice and one patients have been very supportive of.
“I think being able to do it at the same time as having a dental check-up, which we find people are pretty good at keeping up with, has been really appreciated by the patients who have taken up our offer and it is something they would like to see happening more.”
Dr Sonal Patel, Principal Dentist, Broadwater Dental Practice
Debbie Trueman, from Watford, was 52 when she suffered a brain haemorrhage caused by untreated high blood pressure.
Almost five years on, the mum-of-two is urging people aged over 40 to have they blood pressure checked – because she is living proof that high blood pressure can have no visible symptoms and lead to life-threatening illness.
And despite considering herself lucky to be alive, her illness has been life-changing. The simple check, which can be carried out by your local pharmacist, could save your life.
She says a check would have detected she had dangerously high blood pressure and, with medication, prevented the build up of blood in her brain which eventually haemorrhaged in a form of stroke.
She says her family began to suspect something was wrong when she began to behave unusually.
“I am a eleven plus tutor and I had done a session with a pupil earlier that evening but didn’t remember they had been here. Earlier, during the session I had a bit of a panic attack because I couldn’t remember suddenly what I was meant to be doing.
“My son noticed something was wrong, he was 16 at the time. I was found in the toilet downstairs and I couldn’t move my left side so they suspected I had had a stroke,” she says.
Debbie was taken to Watford Hospital and then rushed to a specialist unit in London – she had suffered a form of stroke and needed the blood drained from her brain.
The operation was a success and Debbie was able to go home once she had recovered. She has been left with some long-term side effects from her illness however, and says it has been life changing.
“It has affected some of my cognitive skills and has had an impact on my short term memory.
“So, similar to someone with Alzheimer’s Disease, I can recall things from a long time ago but easily forget something that has only just happened.
“And as with a lot of people with a brain injury, it changed my temperament and I became very angry which affected my relationships.”
She was also unable to return to work full-time but is now feeling well enough to step up her current work tutoring young people.
Debbie, who lives with her son who is now 20, and 15-year-old daughter, was prescribed medication to control her high blood pressure and she invested in her own machine which means she is able to carry out checks at home.
“I have a spreadsheet and I take my blood pressure daily and fill it out and I am really, really strict about taking my medication every day.
“I would urge people to get their own blood pressure machine if they can but also to visit their pharmacist who will be able to carry out a free check that could save your life.”
Debbie says she wants to share her story as much as she can.
“I was getting my medication at the pharmacy actually and I saw a poster in the window about blood pressure checks and there was also a gentleman stood outside and I asked him if he had had a check and told him he should because of what had happened to me.
“I really hope he took my advice. It doesn’t take long, it could save your life.
“I was so close to dying, my children were almost left without their mum and I just had no idea how ill I actually was because high blood pressure does not have any symptoms.”