Mayo doctor encourages people to watch their blood pressure

By Stuart Tynan

A leading doctor in the field of cardiovascular health has called on people to get their blood pressure checked.

Dr. Barry McDonnell, a native of Castlebar, is a reader in Cardiovascular Physiology at Cardiff Metropolitan University and has been based in Cardiff for 22 years. Dr. McDonnell currently coordinates and leads the May Measurement Month blood pressure awareness campaign for the UK and Ireland and is principal investigator for a number of national and international clinical research studies.

He is also heavily involved with Croí's Third Age Project Mayo, which sees the organisation partner with ten local pharmacies, including Molloy’s Pharmacy in Ballina, Crossmolina, Ballaghaderreen and Achill, Treacy’s Pharmacy in Castlebar, Westport and Ballinrobe, and O’Donnell’s Pharmacy and McVann’s Pharmacy in Westport, as part of a blood pressure measurement pilot programme. This initiative will see free blood pressure checks offered throughout the week to people over 55 years of age who have not had their blood pressure checked in the past year.

This week, which marks World Hypertension Day, he will be one of the expert speakers at a free public webinar today (Thursday) discussing how participants can manage their blood pressure.

“It's a day to increase awareness about high blood pressure essentially,” said Dr. McDonnell.

“May Measurement Month has issued a wider monthly campaign around that. World Hypertension Day focuses on blood pressure on one particular day but May Measurement Month, which was instigated by the International Society for Hypertension, brings that awareness one step further.

“A one-day event is now a monthly event and is now being extended into November as a result of Covid. It's a blood pressure awareness day, in essence, in getting the message across why blood pressure is so important, to know it, to have it under control and to just be aware of it.

“When I spoke with Neil Johnson (chief executive of Croí), he told me about the Mayo Third Age project, which focusses on people 55 and above. It was a perfect connection with May Measurement Month that's happening globally and then embedding that with some of the work that Croí are doing with the Mayo Third Age project. That it was in Mayo was a natural fit for me.”

PRESSURE

On whether the general public is fully aware of the dangers of high or low blood pressure, he said: “There is an awful lot of people in the community who are walking around with undiagnosed high blood pressure or uncontrolled blood pressure.

“Because its asymptomatic, people don't have any symptoms of high blood pressure, or very little, and because of that people are just not aware of it and it's a real problem in their community. Often, high blood pressure is first discovered when you are admitted to hospital after having a heart attack or a stroke. By then, it's too late.

“So, what World Hypertension Day, May Measurement Month, and the Mayo Third Age project is trying to do is to increase awareness about the risks of having high blood pressure, get people out to get their blood pressure measured and then once they know, they can do something about it.

“Ideally, even if you have been detected, you want to get it under control because if you do, you take that chronic burden off the end organs that are subjected to pressure.

“So, it's really important that if you have been detected with high blood pressure, try to make some lifestyle changes to mitigate that, reduce the pressure and if you are given treatment, work with your GP to try the best approach for you."

He added: “Low blood pressure is on the opposite end of the spectrum, but it can bring its own problems such as light-headedness and essentially fainting. So again, especially in elderly, that can lead to people falling and breaking bones and leaving people severely debilitated.”

COVID CHALLENGES

Dr. McDonnell feels with the Covid-19 pandemic, people who may have had follow-up appointments have not been seen, while many others have not been able to go to their GP or have not presented themselves to hospitals and he fears it could cause ‘huge pressure’ on health services.

“Speaking to some of my colleagues treating patients, they haven't seen a lot of them for over a year potentially.

“You could have an instance where a patient may not have had the blood pressure measured, who is hypertensive, had a year follow up in April last year, went into lockdown and didn't get that follow up. People have been essentially on waiting lists or not been seen until potentially now.

“This is the worst-case scenario, but someone may not have had their blood pressure measured for a year or two.

“The pandemic has really hit early detection and control of those who are hypertensive. The other point is having other people to get their medication.

“I think we're going to have a lag phase and a bombardment of people with chronic conditions as we come out of the pandemic and lockdown.”

GETTING CHECKED

For anyone who has concerns about their blood pressure, the message from Dr. McDonnell is simple: get it checked, whether with your GP, pharmacy or with your own blood pressure monitor.

“Even if it is high, all is not lost to get it under control and not wait another six months or a year with the potential for more damage to happen, and to take some lifestyle changes.

“Blood pressure kills 11 million people every year. That's 33,000 a day. Having hypertension as the first focus of the Mayo Third Age project, we know that blood pressure increases substantially after the age of 55-60, which is the category we focus on.

“If you have a blood pressure monitor at home, use it and you can go on the Croí website and it will tell you how to do it. If your blood pressure is high, you can do something about it and contact your GP.”

You can read more about the Croí Third Age Mayo project at https://croi.ie/croi-marks-world-hypertension-day-in-mayo/

You can register for the webinar at https://croi.ie/webinar/