Let's be clear. High Blood Pressure (otherwise known as 'Hypertension') is an invisible assassin. According to the American Heart Association people with high blood pressure are three times more likely to develop coronary heart disease, six times more likely to develop congestive heart failure and seven times more likely to have a stroke. If all that wasn't bad enough it also contributes to kidney failure and atherosclerosis (fatty deposits in the arteries) and in some cases can cause blindness. It also impacts invisibibly on your everyday life even if you manage to escape those deathtraps, because high blood pressure means that your heart is having to work harder at any given moment to supply your body with the blood it needs. This can lead to the heart enlarging to work effectively, and means that there is less scope for the heart to respond if you find yourself in a situation where your body is really under stress. And this can lead to heart attacks and strokes. What is worse then all this though is that you may be blissfully ignorant that there is a problem at all until it is too late, because there are no noticeable outward signs that you have high blood pressure. To find out you need to test for it.

So, ok, you are convinced it is a good idea to know what your blood pressure is. How do you go about finding out what yours is?

The easiest (and most accurate) way is to go along to your local doctors surgery and book in for one of the nurses (or doctors) to take it. However, depending on how overworked they are this may be done immediately or you may have to make an appointment. I did this a few years back and it was all very straightforward. The nurse did it on the spot, and it took less than five minutes. No blood or goo or needles, just a little gadget that tightens around your arm. Very quick and totally painless. Personally, I think it is worth investing in a gadget to measure it though. They cost about £90, and you can get them in most big chemists. There are some doubts about how accurate they are, but having one does mean that you can measure your blood pressure when it is convenient for you, in your own home, and also that of your loved ones, and also means that you can monitor the impact of lifestyle changes on your readings. (If in doubt you could always get a reading done at the doctors at the same time, and bring your own one along just to check that both give broadly the same readings.) They are remarkably simple to operate, even for the technologically challenged. To take your blood pressure with one of these wrap-around-wrist gadgets:

1/ Sit down in a comfy chair with feet on the floor for five minutes. (Don't take your blood pressure after eating, or drinking coffee, exercise or other stimulants. Leave it at least an hour. As you are trying to find your resting blood pressure i.e. the rate when you are calm and your body isn't having to do much work)
2/ Remain seated and turn your left hand so that you are looking at your palm.
3/ Wrap the device around your left wrist with the display pointing towards you. Loosely have your arm supported by a cushion at a right angle at about heart height on your lap.
4/ Press the button and wait. You will feel a slight tightening for maybe 30 seconds, but nothing dramatic.
5/ It will then give you three readings. The Systolic Pressure. Diastolic Pressure and your pulse. (If you are feeling particularly thorough you could wait a minute and then re-test again, just to make sure that you don't get a dramatically different reading. If you do then something has gone awry, and you need to take it again until you are sure you have a stable reading)