Give your heart a Spring MOT!

According to the British Heart foundation, high blood pressure is just one of the risk factors for developing heart and circulatory disease, along with high cholesterol, diabetes and other lifestyle factors.

As many as 5 million people in the UK are walking around, undiagnosed, with high blood pressure. The only way to know whether you have high blood pressure is to have it measured. Everyone should know their blood pressure. The British Heart foundation recommends that everyone over 40 gets their blood pressure taken by a nurse or doctor as part of a health check to assess their risk for getting heart and circulatory disease.

Should you find that you do have a high blood pressure, don’t panic, there are not only medications to keep it under control, but easy lifestyle changes will make a big difference.

Making sure that you are physically active and maintain a healthy diet will help you to control your blood pressure. Making sure that you get enough sleep and stay in control of your stress levels can also help.

Many of the people who end up hospitalised as a result of more serious medical conditions caused by high blood pressure, were not even aware that they had a problem until it was too late.

Being aware of your blood pressure is extremely important, especially if you are over 65, have a family history or are overweight- it could even save your life!

There are plenty of perfectly functional and reasonably priced monitors available to buy in chemist and many doctors’ surgeries offer a free blood pressure monitoring service. Ask your GP for more information.

However if you want a state of the art monitor and wish to track your blood pressure at the touch of a button then you need to look no further than this bloodpressure monitor that is compatible with your ipad, ipod or iphone. Based on the iOS operating system and Bluetooth technology, you can test, track and share your blood pressure results wirelessly with your iPod touch: iPhone and iPad. The monitor is integrated on the arm cuff and works with the Free App. It can even work out averages to see if the chances that you have made to your lifestyle or any medication that you are on is having a positive effect. This information can then be sent to family members or caregivers at the tough of a button.

An egg a day keeps the doctor away!

In a recent study, reported on by The Daily Mail online, it was found that egg whites could lower the blood pressure dramatically in the same way as medication- but without the side effects!

A key element found in the whites was found to have the same blood pressure lowering abilities as Captopril, a high blood-pressure drug. 

Dr Zhipeng Yu, who led the research at China's Jilin University, said: 'Our research suggests that there may be another reason to call it 'the incredible, edible egg'. 

'We have evidence from the laboratory that a substance in egg white - it's a peptide, one of the building blocks of proteins - reduces blood pressure about as much as a low dose of Captopril, a high-blood-pressure drug.'

Dr Yu and his colleagues studied a peptide found in egg white called RVPSL. 

This has a powerful ability to inhibit or block the action of ACE, a substance produced in the body that raises blood pressure.

The findings were presented to the National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in New Orleans.

Dr Yu said: 'Our results support and enhance previous findings on this topic. 

'They were promising enough to move ahead with further research on the effects of the egg white peptide on human health.'

High blood pressure often goes undiagnosed and can cause severe damage to your organs, leading to serious health problems- and in a lot of cases there are no symptoms until it is too late.

It is important to be aware of your blood pressure. A lot of doctors surgeries and pharmacies offer free blood pressure tests, but if you face the management of your blood pressure on a daily basis, it may be more convenient and help you stay in control to opt for a more personal, high-tech solution. 

The iHealth BP5 bloodpressure monitor is based on the iOS operating system and Bluetooth technology, it allows you to test, track and share your blood pressure results wirelessly with your iPod touch, iPhone or iPad. iHealth BP5 works with a Free App to test, track, graph and share your blood pressure results The whole testing process is amazingly intuitive- you can watch your pulse wave in a vivid interface and your results are recorded automatically. Using a minimal amount of storage space on your device. You can classify your historical results and obtain the average, to identify your blood pressure's trend and to examine the effectiveness of any medicine. You can even send your results instantly to your family or healthcare provider by E-mail, Facebook or Twitter to keep them informed of your health condition.