Dear LPG,

Whenever you see a hospital drama, and once the stethoscope has been used and is out of the way, the blood pressure gauge is nearly always the next bit of medical equipment that appears.  I suppose that is because there is no blood or pain to see and the actors can use it as an excuse to do something with their hands while the all-important character dialogue and narrative tell us the plot.

But did you know that nearly one quarter of the people in the world have blood pressure which is either too high or low and I also read that, in England, there could be as many as another 70 percent of people that go undiagnosed at any given time

The basic problem is that there are no symptoms that give a hint to poor blood pressure for many people and in this day and age, unless you really have to go, who bothers to go through all the inconvenience of visiting one’s GP? 

It is fairly common knowledge that avoiding stress, not being too overweight, being a non-smoker and non-drinker all benefit, and exercise is one of the things, that we are always being told, will help to correct it, but as we get older there can be a limit to how we can use each of those options.

 So, once you end up on the other once-a-day pill, what else can we do to make a difference?

I have been reading about an exercise that can be quite effective.  It is said that improved breathing has two main benefits because it is likely to induce calm, and lower stress levels while it strengthens the muscles that make you breath. 

I found lots of information, including some gen about a new set of deep breathing exercise aids that only need to be used for five minutes a day in order to improve breathing, without excessive amounts of aerobic exercise involved, and think that readers might benefit if aggressive physical exercise has become a challenge. 

I have also read that it is advised that anyone considering trying one of these gismos talks to their GP first but, from the statistics I read, in spite of the inconvenience, a visit might be a good idea if you have not been lately so that you can actually find out how your blood pressure is doing.

 JA, Brockley

LPG would again remind readers that although many of these breathing exercisers are available online and in shops, most of the written online data suggests that you see a GP before trying any of them out.

 JA offers us a few facts…

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…and some demonstrations.

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