What is high blood pressure?
Around 13.5 million people have high blood pressure in the UK [1]. You might also hear high blood pressure being called hypertension.
Health advice
Managing high blood pressure
Explore our blood pressure resources.
Regardless of whether you’re looking for advice on the signs and symptoms of high blood pressure, how it can be treated, or your heart health, our clinically-approved health information is here to help you.
How do I know if I have high blood pressure?
There are usually no symptoms linked with high blood pressure. Most people will find out they have high blood pressure after having a blood pressure check with a pharmacist or GP.
How healthy is your heart?
Take the Heart Age Test from the NHS to find out how your heart age compares to your real age.
How to treat high blood pressure
Treatment for high blood pressure involves lifestyle changes or medication.
High blood pressure and COVID-19
If you get coronavirus, you’re more likely to become seriously ill if you have high blood pressure, another heart condition or a condition relating to how blood circulates through the body, compared to someone who doesn’t have any health problems2. Advice for people who are at higher risk, on the NHS website.
Find out more
Other health conditions that can cause high blood pressure
Other pre-existing health conditions can cause high blood pressure, including:
- Diabetes
- Kidney disease or infection
- Obstructive sleep apnoea
- Glomerulonephritis – damage to the tiny filters inside the kidneys
- Hormone problems
- Lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus).3
Reviewed by: Mital Thakrar
Review date: March 2022
Next review: March 2025
Visit your nearest pharmacy
Get support and advice from your local Well pharmacist
- Context | Hypertension in adults: diagnosis and management | Guidance | NICE. Accessed December 7, 2020. https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng136/chapter/Context
- Coronavirus: what it means for you if you have heart or circulatory disease. Accessed December 1, 2020. https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/news/coronavirus-and-your-health
- High blood pressure (hypertension). nhs.uk. Published October 23, 2017. Accessed December 1, 2020. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/high-blood-pressure-hypertension/
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