Dear LPG,

Over the years I have watched many a medical drama and, whenever I see a doctor on the TV, it has always interested me that there are two bits of equipment that they seem to use.  The first is a stethoscope which somehow, when hung around the neck of anyone with or without a white coat, makes them look as if they know all about medicine.  The second seems to come into play when someone visits a doctor at a surgery and that is a blood pressure monitor.  How many times, during a GP consultation have you been asked to bare your upper arm?

I am one of the many people in the UK who have reached a certain age this year (that of retirement), and just the knowledge that I no longer have to go to work every day has me realising that this is a time to check that I am healthy… well as healthy as a 65-year-old can be.  

I know that one of the most common things that can happen as you get to my age is that you show signs of hypotension and I am no exception.  When the word is said we all think of high blood pressure, but the doctor pointed out that the pronunciation of the word can often hide the fact that there are two ways of spelling it, and the difference of an ‘er’ or ‘o’ in the middle of the word can make a big difference to your condition, because I also found out that there are two types of this.  Your blood pressure can be high, which is quite common, but it can also be low.

I have read a few posts on your website about high blood pressure but, just out of interest, I found quite a bit of information online about what to do if you need to raise your blood pressure and thought it might be good to share.  As ever there are lots of different opinions on the internet, but I think that the main things are that the symptoms of low blood pressure are dizziness and light-headedness and a little extra salt in your diet can help to make your blood pressure higher.  

PY, New Cross

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