Do you know your numbers? Blood Pressure Awareness Week 2023.
- thehealthpalette
- Sep 14, 2023
- 4 min read
Blood pressure. We hear time and time again that high blood pressure is more prevalent in the black community. But why? Also, what exactly is blood pressure and what are the implications of high blood pressure?
September 4th - 10th 2023 was Blood Pressure Awareness Week (Know Your Numbers! Week) and here at The Health Palette we want to educate and inform you about blood pressure and why, especially as black people, we should care.
Firstly, what is blood pressure?
According to the National Health Service (NHS), blood pressure measures the force your heart pumps blood around your body. Two numbers are recorded, the top number and the bottom number. The top number is called the systolic pressure and the bottom number is called the diastolic pressure. The systolic pressure measures the pressure when the heart beats and pushes blood around the body. The diastolic pressure is the pressure when your heart relaxes between beating.
What is a normal blood pressure?
A normal blood pressure is between 90/60 (90 over 60) mmHg (millimetres of mercury) and 120/80 (120 over 80) mmHg.
What are the facts and figures about blood pressure in the black community?
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, black people are 30% more likely to get high blood pressure in comparison to white people. High blood pressure can lead to complications such as heart disease and strokes and black people are 30% more likely to die from heart disease in comparison to white people. With these statistics, it is really important to monitor your blood pressure and if you do have blood pressure problems, seek medical advice to help reduce your numbers.
What causes high blood pressure?
Age. The older you get, the more likely you are to get high blood pressure
Gender. Being a man, increases your risk of getting high blood pressure
Family history. Having close family members that you are related to with high blood pressure increases your risk of high blood pressure
Smoking
Drinking too much alcohol
Overweight or obese - being obese or overweight means the heart has to work harder to push blood around your body which can increase your blood pressure
Eating too much salt (that includes seasoning such as Maggi or all purpose seasoning)
Not exercising enough
Medical conditions such as diabetes or kidney disease
Medications such as herbal supplements, steroids and pills used for dieting
Another risk for high blood pressure is being of black African or Caribbean descent, or African American. High blood pressure does not only occur at higher rates in black people but can also occur at a younger age, be harder to treat and have more significant complications. The exact reason why high rates of blood pressure occur in the black community is not entirely known but many reasons have been suggested.
According to an article in the journal of the American Heart Association, genetic traits may be a risk factor for high blood pressure in black people. Genetic traits may also increase our sensitivity to salt, which is a risk factor for high blood pressure.
Social and economic factors play a role in high blood pressure in black people. The long standing issue of difficulty accessing health care, and when accessed the problems faced within the health system that prevent people from seeking help again lead to high blood pressure as well as difficulty controlling blood pressure.
Harvard Health reported a strong link between stress from the lifetime discrimination that black people face and high blood pressure. This includes everyday discrimination such as not being treated fairly, not being listened to as well as racial discrimination.
What are the signs of high blood pressure?
Headaches
Blurry vision
Feeling dizzy
Nose bleeds
Chest pain
Difficulty breathing
Whilst these are the common symptoms of high blood pressure, the British Heart Foundation states that many people with high blood pressure do not have any symptoms. This is why high blood pressure is often called the “silent killer.”
How can I prevent high blood pressure?
Stop or don’t smoke
Reduce your alcohol intake . Adults should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week:
- This is either one and a half bottles of wine (12% ABV) or
- 6 pints of average strength beer or
- 14 single shot spirits (37.5% ABV)
Reduce your weight
Maintain a healthy diet (this includes reducing your salt intake (yes, that includes seasoning), and eating 5 portions of fruit and vegetables every day)
Do at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity every day - go for a fast walk, go to a gym class, do a dance class
Check your medications - if they are prescribed, talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits. If they are herbal or over the counter medications, make sure to read the side effects and consider alternatives if they are known to cause high blood pressure
As a black community, we know that the discrimination we face everyday is engrained in parts of society and whilst work is being done to reduce this, we still have a long way to go.
Despite that, here are four key points we can use to reduce our high blood pressure risks:
Awareness and recognition of factors including socioeconomic and lifestyle factors that increase blood pressure
Making the above lifestyle changes to prevent and reduce our risk of high blood pressure
Finding ways to reduce daily stressors and discriminators such as talking to friends and family, talking to a therapist, making time for ourselves to do activities we enjoy, meditation or exercise
Advocating for ourselves by arming ourselves with health information and not being afraid to stand up for ourselves or seek a second opinion
How is high blood pressure treated?
How blood pressure is treated depends on the individual. This may include lifestyle changes or medication.
If you have any symptoms of high blood pressure or are concerned about your blood pressure, head to your GP to get yourself checked out. In fact, those based in the UK aged 40 to 74 are entitled to an NHS health check every 5 years which includes a blood pressure check.
As black people, we must advocate for ourselves and our health. Staying clued up and knowledgeable about our health is definitely a great way to do so.
Do you know your numbers?
by The Health Palette Medical Team
Sources
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6428619/