Next time the fairer sex accuses you of hypochondria, feel free to say: “You do not need to be an unfit, overweight 50-year-old with a family history of heart disease to worry about your blood pressure.”

You’re in your thirties. You look fine and you feel healthy enough. Okay, you drink a bit (maybe more than a bit at weekends), but that’s because your job has been pretty stressful recently. If you’re honest, you should probably exercise a bit more, and you haven’t slept as much as you would like, but then you’ve just had a couple of children, so that’s normal, right? Yes, it is normal, but it can have an impact on your blood pressure, and blood pressure that is even slightly raised is potentially very bad news.

Just so we’re all clear, your blood pressure has two readings: systolic (the higher number) and diastolic (the lower number). A reading of systolic 120 over diastolic 80 would be ideal. (Readings ranging from 110 to 130 and from 70 to 90 are considered normal.)

Research has shown that a rise of just 10 in either reading can increase your risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) by as much as 50%, which means you need to know your blood pressure. Lifestyle factors such as stress, lack of sleep, poor diet and lack of exercise greatly increase your chances of having raised blood pressure, and therefore CHD. Other side effects include organ failure in areas stressed through raised pressure, such as your kidneys, decreased concentration levels, erratic and disturbed sleep and even erectile dysfunction. The good news is that a lower reading can be reached quite quickly. Here’s what you can do:

1 Know your blood pressure. Ask your GP to check it regularly – at the very least, once a year. Automatic blood-pressure monitors are available to buy at most good chemists.

2 Adopt a diet rich in fruit, vegetables and low-fat dairy products. Reduce your intake of saturated and total fat. This can reduce systolic blood pressure by 8-14 points.

3 Lower salt intake. Reduce dietary sodium to about 1 tsp a day. The approximate reduction in systolic blood pressure could be 2-8 points.

4 Engage in regular physical activity, such as brisk walking, for at least 30 minutes per day, most days of the week. This can decrease systolic blood pressure by 4-9 points.

5 Drink no more than 12 units of alcohol per week. This can reduce systolic blood pressure by 2-4 points.

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