{"id":784222,"date":"2026-09-27T11:58:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T11:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/784222\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T11:58:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T11:58:16","slug":"doctor-reveals-7-simple-fixes-for-after-blood-pressure-warning-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/784222\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor reveals 7 simple fixes for after blood pressure warning | UK | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

People can help reduce the risk of high blood pressure<\/a> with seven lifestyle<\/a> changes, an expert has said. It comes as it was warned that high blood pressure is becoming increasingly common, especially in older adults, and despite this, new data suggests that only around half of people being treated by their GP for it have their condition under control.<\/p>\n

Research by the University of Oxford, which involved 1.4 million adults, also found that most people in England living with high blood pressure aren’t aware they have it, which puts them at increased risk of suffering strokes<\/a>, heart attacks,<\/a> and premature death. Using data from the Our Future Health programme, researchers estimated that more than one in three adults in England has high blood pressure, 59% of whom don’t know they’ve got it.<\/p>\n

Dr Naveed Asif, GP at The London General Practice, said: \u201cMost people don\u2019t even know they have high blood pressure because it doesn\u2019t tend to cause symptoms, so it\u2019s often referred to as a \u2018silent killer\u2019.<\/p>\n

There are mortal dangers of failing to keep on top of blood pressure, but lifestyle changes can have a real impact.<\/p>\n

Dr Asif flagged a number of ways to reduce the risks by rethinking things like what you’re eating and how much exercise you’re getting.<\/p>\n

1. Look at your diet<\/p>\n

\"Fresh<\/p>\n

Dr Asif says making changes to your diet is \u201cone of the biggest things you can do”.<\/p>\n

Experts often recommend following a Mediterranean diet as it features various elements that promote good heart health.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mediterranean diet comprises of whole foods, fruits, reduced saturated fats and lean meats and avoids processed foods which is great for the heart,\u201d the GP said.<\/p>\n

Dr Asif also urges people to be aware of how much salt is in their diet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just about the table salt you are using while cooking because typically the majority of your salt comes from eating out or processed food, so be mindful about cumulative salt content over the space of a day,\u201d the health professional advises.<\/p>\n

\u201cTry to see food as medicine by sticking with whole foods and go for unsalted or low salt\/healthier options where possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Image: Getty)2. Move regularly<\/p>\n

\"2.<\/p>\n

Being active has two crucial benefits: helping you to maintain a healthy weight, whilst strengthening your heart, helping it pump blood more easily and reducing pressure on your arteries.<\/p>\n

This, in turn, helps reduce your blood pressure, according to the British Heart Foundation (BHF) website.<\/p>\n

Dr Asif advises keeping it simple, saying: \u201cI always advise my patients to incorporate some kind of movement into their lifestyle everyday, whether that be getting off the bus one stop early, or going up the stairs rather than using a lift.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Image: Getty)4. Try to lower stress<\/p>\n

\"Senior<\/p>\n

Stress and anxiety can be a real strain on your mental health, but it can also have marked impacts on your physical health.<\/p>\n

Dr Asif explains that when you’re stressed and anxious, “your blood pressure goes up and chronic stress can be detrimental for your health”.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s evidence that suggests that stepping back, closing your eyes and doing some breathing exercises, or even just going for a walk where you just switch off, helps give your body time to relax.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s also an hormonal aspect to this, as it will release hormones that will help protect your heart and blood vessels, but will also improve your mood as a result.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Image: Getty)5. Prioritise sleep<\/p>\n

\"Senior<\/p>\n

Insufficient rest, or having poor-quality sleep can also impact how your body regulates blood pressure, the British Heart Foundation says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we\u2019re so busy we don\u2019t always prioritise good-quality sleep and we will wake up tired as a result of it,” Dr Asif says.<\/p>\n

“In addition, when we\u2019re not sleeping adequately this will have a negative impact on our body and emotional control for dealing with stress the following day.”<\/p>\n

It’s therefore import to ensure you “prioritise sleep and are consistent with your night time routine and with what time you go to bed,” the medical expert added.<\/p>\n

(Image: Getty)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People can help reduce the risk of high blood pressure with seven lifestyle changes, an expert has said.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":784223,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[6612,258375,59,102,9294,6624,14978,20122,56,54,55,258376],"class_list":["post-784222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-blood-pressure","tag-dr-naveed-asif","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-healthy-diet","tag-high-blood-pressure","tag-lifestyle-changes","tag-mediterranean-diet","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-university-of-oxford-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}