Free blood pressure checks at MACE in Greenisland in partnership with NICHS

Members of the public are invited to come along and avail of the service which is being provided in partnership with Mace Greenisland. The charity’ s health promotion team will be at the store from 10am to 3pm to provide pop-up blood pressure checks to the community.

NICHS is currently running a blood pressure awareness campaign due to its concern around the number of people living with undetected high blood pressure and that one in two heart attacks and strokes are linked to the condition.

Fidelma Carter, head of Public Health at NICHS, said: “We want to provide people with a convenient opportunity to get their blood pressure checked. We understand how busy everyday life can be but making time for your health is so important, so why not get a check when you visit the store for some shopping? A blood pressure check is simple and only takes a few minutes, but it really could help save your life.”

According to the charity, approximately 280,317 people, or 15% of the population in Northern Ireland, are living with high blood pressure but there is a significant proportion of people, around one in every eight, who have high blood pressure and do not realise it.

Fidelma added: “Undetected high blood pressure is often known as ‘The Silent Killer’ due to the fact it rarely causes any physical symptoms or warning signs and is often only discovered after someone suffers a stroke or heart attack. The only way to know what your blood pressure is, and if it is high, is to have it measured and we are delighted to be working with our corporate partner MACE to give the public an opportunity to access free blood pressure checks.

“If you can’t make it to the pop-up checks but would like more information about high blood pressure, we will be hosting an online blood pressure advice session featuring clinicians and health professionals on 27th September at 7pm. The session is free and open to everyone and will give information about preventing, detecting and managing high blood pressure to help reduce stroke and heart attack risk.

“Joining us for the session are Dr Brian Gallen, consultant stroke physician and geriatrician in the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen; Dr Carol Wilson, consultant cardiologist, Belfast; Dr Grainne Bonnar, general practitioner; Sophie Boyle, dietician and Hannah Williamson, NICHS health promotion manager.

“We will have demonstrations on how to measure your blood pressure at home and provide information on how to keep your blood pressure at a healthy level. All the details on how to join the advice session are available on our website at https://nichs.org.uk/your-numbers-up-blood-pressure , where you can also find lots of resources and information about blood pressure.”

NICHS works with people of all ages across the country, delivering vital care and prevention services, supporting ground-breaking research and campaigning for change. For further information about the pop-up blood pressure checks and support about blood pressure, click here