BY NAOMI GORNALLHealth reporternaomi.gornall@eveningstar.co.uk>IPSWICH: Almost a third of people in the region have high blood pressure, shock new figures show.

Naomi Gornall

BY NAOMI GORNALL

Health reporter

naomi.gornall@eveningstar.co.uk>

IPSWICH: Almost a third of people in the region have high blood pressure, shock new figures show.

Data gathered during the Blood Pressure Association's Know your Numbers! Week revealed that 32 per cent of people in the East of England had a high reading.

In addition, 57pc of those tested admitted they did not know their blood pressure numbers.

Among them was Faye Lloyd, a 26-year-old student adviser from Ipswich, who found out she had a high blood pressure reading when she was at work at Otley College.

She said: “The student welfare officer at the college was taking part in Know your Numbers! Week and she was testing everyone's blood pressure, so I decided I might as well get mine taken.

“I was more than a little shocked when my blood pressure reading was high. I've always thought that only older people have high blood pressure.

“Not only am I in my twenties but I'm also slim, I don't smoke, and I eat healthily and exercise. I didn't think someone like me could have a high reading.

“I'm now taking medicine to bring my blood pressure numbers down.”

More than 24,000 readings were taken across the country for Know your Numbers week, prompting the charity, Blood Pressure Association (BPA), to urge people to take steps to reduce their blood pressure.

Professor Graham MacGregor, chairman of BPA, said: “High blood pressure is a symptomless condition which causes half of all strokes and heart attacks in the UK, so it is extremely worrying that almost a third of the adults we tested in the East of England had high blood pressure readings.

For more information, visit www.bpassoc.org.uk or call the BPA's Blood Pressure Information Line on 0845 2410989.