A NATIONWIDE effort to measure the blood pressure of as many Australians as possible in one week has found that almost 15% had high blood pressure, placing them at an increased risk of heart disease over the coming years.
The new data gathered during last week's Heart Week came from more than 6,000 people who had their blood pressure checked for free at a SiSU Health Station in Priceline pharmacies across the nation, as part of a partnership between SiSU Health and the Heart Foundation.
Data showed that two-thirds of people who had their check at a SiSU Health Station had never had their blood pressure checked before - a worrying statistic for the Heart Foundation.
Of concern was also the link between high blood pressure and diabetes risk, where almost 60% of people with high blood pressure also recorded a high risk of diabetes (also known as a high AUSDRISK score; calculated by the Australian Type 2 diabetes risk assessment tool), which is another risk factor for heart disease.
David Lloyd, CEO of the Heart Foundation, shared, "in Australia, having high blood pressure contributes to 50% of the burden of Coronary Heart Disease.
"An incredible one in three Australian adults suffers high blood pressure - that's 6.8m people."
Pharmacists can encourage their customers to find out their heart age using the Heart Foundation's calculator HERE.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 15 May 23
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