Blood Pressure Screening Service
Here at LloydsPharmacy we offer a measurement service to help with the controlling of Blood Pressure.
High blood pressure (BP), otherwise known as hypertension is one of the major contributors of stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD).
Hypertension affects up to 25% of the population. It affects about 50% of the Irish population aged over 50 years. As you get older, you're more likely to have high blood pressure.
Most people with hypertension do not have any symptoms and as a result many people remain undiagnosed. By raising awareness, improving detection, monitoring and treatment, we here at LloydsPharmacy hope to make a significant healthcare impact.
What is Blood Pressure?
Blood pressure is the pressure or force the blood exerts against the walls of the arteries. Arteries are the blood vessels that take the blood away from the heart to the rest of the body. Blood pressure rises and falls throughout the day as the heart contracts and relaxes. When blood pressure is measured, it is a measure of how hard the heart has to work to pump the blood all around the body.
Blood pressure is usually represented as a systolic and diastolic figure. The unit of measurement is called millimetres of mercury (mmHg). For example, a normal BP in an adult may be around 120/80mmHg (often described as 120 over 80). This is shorthand for a systolic pressure of 120mmHg and a diastolic pressure of 80mmHg.
The systolic pressure is the highest pressure and occurs when the blood is pushed through the arteries by the contracting (or the beat) of the heart. When the heart relaxes between beats the pressure in the arteries falls – this is diastolic blood pressure.
Everyone’s BP differs. BP also varies depending on the level of activity; it usually drops when an individual is asleep and increases when an individual exercises or is under stress.
What factors increase the risk of developing Hypertension?
There are a number of different factors that can lead to hypertension. Some of these factors are things that cannot be changed including increasing age, ethnic origin and the fact that the condition runs in a family.
However, there are a number of factors that increase the chance of having hypertension that people can do something about. These are related to a person’s lifestyle and are known as modifiable risk factors:
- Too much salt in the diet
- Lack of exercise
- Too much total or saturated fat in the diet
- Smoking
- Being Overweight
- Stress
- Not enough fruits and vegetables in the diet
- Too much alcohol
Where is this service available?
This service is available in participating LloydsPharmacy stores across Ireland.
What is involved and how long will the appointment take?
- Don’t eat or drink anything for 30 minutes before you present for your appointment.
- Don’t exercise 30 minutes before your reading.
- Don’t smoke or drink alcohol or caffeine before your reading.
- Empty your bladder before your appointment.
- For the most accurate reading, please wear clothing that will allow the cuff to be placed on bare skin on your arm.
- When you present to the pharmacy, the team will first ask that you sit in a chair with your back supported for at least 5 minutes before your reading.
- The questionnaire will already have been filled out by you online before the appointment. If you have any questions on this, please contact a member of the LloydsPharmacy team.
- Put both feet flat on the ground and keep your legs uncrossed.
- You will be advised not to talk during the reading.
- Rest your arm on the table so that it is at chest level.
- A trained member of our team will wrap and secure an inflatable cuff around your arm. The machine will then inflate the cuff so that it will gently tighten on your arm. The cuff has a gauge on it that will measure your blood pressure.
- The cuff will feel tight for a few seconds before it then slowly deflates. This process is quick and painless.
- The machine will then display your blood pressure reading and pulse rate (the number of times your heart beats per minute) on its screen.
- Wait 5 minutes and measure your blood pressure on your other arm.
- Offer no new advice but reinforce the importance of a healthy lifestyle and diet.
- Offer lifestyle and dietary advice.
- Offer lifestyle and dietary advice and ask you to return for a further reading on another day.
- Offer lifestyle and dietary advice and refer you to your GP.
How much does this service cost and how long will it take?
The fee for this service is €5 and will take a total of approximately 15 minutes.
Possible Referral to your GP and Diagnosing Hypertension
Following a blood pressure screening consultation at LloydsPharmacy, one of our pharmacists will interpret the results and advise you on whether you need to be referred to your GP. If your blood pressure is outside the recommended range on the day of the reading, to confirm a diagnosis of hypertension you will be referred to visit your GP for further evaluation.
Your GP may suggest that you wear a 24-hour blood pressure monitor. This is a device that is fitted carefully and left on for a period of 24 hours. The device then generates data that will allow your GP to analyse the times of the day when your blood pressure may have been elevated.
Heart Health Support
Browse our range of products ideal to support your heart health
Reducing Blood Pressure
For some people, lifestyle measures alone can bring about a reduction in blood pressure and also a reduction in other risk factors such as high cholesterol and being overweight. They can also reduce the need for medication but also maximize the efficacy of medication if your GP does give you a prescription for blood pressure lowering medication.
Lifestyle measures which can help reduce blood pressure include:
- Weight reduction
- Quitting Smoking is thought to be the most powerful lifestyle measure for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in hypertensive patients
- Moderate alcohol consumption
- Reduction of salt intake
- Increased physical activity
- Dietary changes
- Managing stress and finding a healthy work/life balance
Visit Us in Store
For more information on the services we offer check out our services page or visit your local store
