But I?don’t feel ill! - High blood pressure – known as hypertension – rarely makes people feel ill. It is called a ‘silent killer’, because usually there are no symptoms and it can go undiagnosed. Unfortunately, very often the first time someone finds out that they have high blood pressure is when they are taken to hospital, because their high blood pressure has led to a stroke or a heart problem.

The only way of knowing if you have high blood pressure is to have it measured by your GP or nurse. Around one in four adults in the UK has high blood pressure and our risk of developing it increases as we get older.

High blood pressure is thought to cause around one in every five heart attacks and half of all strokes.