A team of nurses has been checking out Swindon people as a health timebomb affects more and more of us. BEN FITZGERALD went along and found out that there is a growing cause for concern.

HIGH blood pressure is a hidden killer and a team of nurses discovered it in more than a third of people in one Swindon workplace alone.

Increasingly sedentary lifestyles, combined with our love of highly processed food, have sent high blood pressure rates soaring.

Unlike most other potentially fatal conditions, there is no early warning, no first signs of becoming unwell and no outward clue that anything could be wrong.

And this health time bomb now affects one in three of us.

As part of National Blood Pressure Testing Week, a team of nurses from Swindon's Carfax Street NHS walk-in centre tackled the problem head on, spending the week testing the blood pressure of people in their workplaces to highlight what is a growing problem.

Nurse manager Tony Lewis said: "If left unchecked, high blood pressure can lead to a number of really serious complications.

"It places strain on the vessels carrying blood around the body and can lead to various problems including heart disease, narrowing of blood vessels, blood clots or kidney failure.

"The only way to tell if you have high blood pressure is to have it measured.

"Most people just assume that high blood pressure is something that is just a problem for older people who have a weight problem, but we are picking up quite a few people who have high blood pressure even in their twenties. This is a real cause for concern."

High blood pressure is a contributory factor in the 50,000 deaths from strokes and 100,000 from coronary heart disease each year in England.

When it is measured, it is split into two numbers, one being the systolic pressure that shows the pressure in arteries when blood is being forced through them. The other number in a blood pressure measurement, the diastolic, shows the pressure in arteries when the heart relaxes.

Both figures are measured in terms of mercury in a measuring device being moved a given distance by the pressure of the blood.

A consistent measurement of 140/90mm or more is the benchmark for high pressure.

Adults should have their readings measured at least once every five years, but few do.

The Blood Pressure Association estimates that about half of all people with high blood pressure are undiagnosed.

Mr Lewis and his team spent the week going into various workplaces around Swindon to raise awareness of the importance of blood pressure monitoring and to take readings from people who might not have regular checks.

I joined the team as they checked the readings of staff working at Swindon's BMW Pressings plant.

Ms Smith said: "We were really pleased with the number of people who came forward to have their readings taken.

"Some of those we saw had not had their readings taken for years and they just kept on coming. We were really rushed off our feet.

"Of the 112 readings that we took, we discovered that 47 people had diastolic readings over 90 high blood pressure.

"This is a pretty high percentage and really underlines the importance of catching blood pressure problems early before they develop into something worse.

"The most astonishing thing was that we were picking up cases of high blood pressure in 22-year-old blokes you shouldn't have high blood pressure at that age.

"If you know that you have a problem, then you can take steps to improve your health. It is the fact that so many people are unaware of their readings that causes problems."

She explained that valuable data collected by the team, as they visited workplaces this week, would be collated and used to influence future health policy in the town.

High blood pressure, known as hypertension, can affect anyone, but there are certain groups of people who are more at risk.

These include:

Those with a family history of high blood pressure, stroke or heart attack.

Black and South Asian people. Black people may be more sensitive than whites to salt in diet and more likely to suffer strokes. South Asian people are more at risk of diabetes or heart attacks.

Some medical conditions such as diabetes, kidney disease and heart disease are linked to high blood pressure. For those with such conditions, it is even more important that blood pressure is controlled.

Overweight people, those eating too much salt and not enough fruit and vegetables, those taking little exercise and drinking too much alcohol are more likely to have high blood pressure.

If caught early, hypertension is something that can be treated by a combination of lifestyle changes and medication.

Anyone with queries about blood pressure can contact the Blood Pressure Association on (0208) 7724994. Those with general health inquiries are invited to contact NHS Direct on (0845) 4647.