Know the risk factors and test your knowledge of heart health basics.
One major risk factor for heart disease is high blood pressure, or hypertension. Left unmanaged, hypertension can lead to significant impacts to your health over time, including heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and heart failure.
The first step to living a heart healthy lifestyle is ensuring your blood pressure is within a healthy range. If you don’t know your blood pressure, getting it checked sooner rather than later will enable you to detect signs of heart disease as early as possible. It may save your life.
People with very high blood pressure (usually 180/120 or higher) can experience symptoms including:
severe headaches
chest pain
dizziness
difficulty breathing
nausea
vomiting
blurred vision or other vision changes
anxiety
confusion
buzzing in the ears
nosebleeds
abnormal heart rhythm
Think you know all about heart health? Take this quiz to test your knowledge: Blood Pressure 101: Know the Basics (riddle.com)
Source: Hypertension (who.int)