Palliser Primary Care Network

Hypertension Awareness Month

Paige Phon
May 2, 2025

May is Hypertension Awareness Month (1), but what is hypertension?

Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, “occurs when there is too much pressure in your blood vessels. This can damage your blood vessels and cause health problems. Anyone can develop high blood pressure, but it becomes more common as you get older” (2).

Often there are no signs or symptoms associated with high blood pressure, therefore it is referred to as “the silent killer” (3). High blood pressure increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, eye problems, kidney diseases, heart failure and erectile dysfunction (2). It is important to check your blood pressure every so often, either at home with a home blood pressure machine, at the grocery store or pharmacy, or at your doctor/nurse visits.

For the general population, the target blood pressure is less than 140/90 and less than 130/80 for people with diabetes. For some people who are at “high risk for heart disease – such those over 75 or people with heart or kidney problems or multiple risk factors”, the target for the top blood pressure number is recommended to be less than 120 (2).

Blood pressure can be affected by many factors. Some factors we can change and others are out of our control, such as genetics. When it comes to managing blood pressure, there are many things we can do to help lower the risk, such as:

• Reducing stress
• Eating a healthy diet (e.g. DASH diet or Canada’s Food Guide)
• Increasing exercise
• Quitting smoking (e.g. Alberta Quits)
• Reducing alcohol
• Taking medication as directed to manage and treat high blood pressure (2)

If you would like to have your blood pressure checked or support with any of the above lifestyle modifications, book an appointment with your PCN nurse or family doctor!