CANBERRA, Australia - More than a third of all Australians suffer from high blood pressure, but around half are either unaware or not taking adequate steps to combat it, according to the Heart Foundation South Australia on Monday. In a statement released as part of Heart Week, which runs from April 30 until May 6 in Australia, Heart Foundation South Australia CEO Imelda Lynch said routinely monitoring one's blood pressure would help Australians avoid the "silent killer" and the "ticking time bomb" which is heart disease.

"More than one in three (36 percent) - or 462,000 adults in South Australia - have hypertension and nearly half of these either don't know they have it or they are not monitoring it regularly to know if their current treatment is working," Lynch said in a statement released on Monday.

"Undiagnosed or untreated high blood pressure is a ticking time bomb for heart disease, the leader killer of South Australians, and for other serious illnesses like stroke, dementia and kidney disease, and you can suffer from high blood pressure without any symptoms.

"It is often called the 'silent killer' because you can't tell if you've got it based on how you feel. So you really need to get your blood pressure checked by a health professional and then take action to lower it."

Lynch said Heart Week was the perfect reminder for people to get to know their blood pressure numbers by seeing their family doctors for a heart health check.

"High blood pressure can be managed with lifestyle changes like eating a healthy diet that is low in salt, being physically active and not smoking. For some people lifestyle changes alone are not enough and they will need to take medication to help lower their blood pressure as well," Lynch said.

"People taking hypertension medication should continue to monitor their blood pressure as blood pressure levels can change and so can your response to hypertension medication. You need to check in regularly with your GP or a health professional to make sure it is working properly for you."

Xinhua

(China Daily 05/02/2017 page11)