Fiducia TogetherHigh blood pressure
Also called Hypertension
No symptoms, enormous consequences. Around one in four UK adults, and about half of them are not treated to target.
Important: This page is general information, not medical advice, and it is not a diagnosis. If you are worried about your health or someone else's, speak to a GP, pharmacist, or call 111. In an emergency, call 999.
What it is
High blood pressure is the most consequential condition in this library that nobody feels. It causes no symptoms until it causes a stroke, a heart attack, heart failure, chronic kidney disease or vascular dementia.
Around 14 million adults in the UK have it. Roughly a third do not know, and of those diagnosed, a large share are not controlled to target.
That is the argument in full. It costs nothing to measure and a great deal to ignore.
Signs you might notice
Nothing at all, in almost every case.
The myths worth correcting: headaches, nosebleeds and flushed cheeks are not reliable signs, and waiting for them is how people end up in a stroke ward.
Very high pressure with headache, visual change, chest pain or breathlessness is different and needs same-day assessment.
How it can affect day-to-day life
Adherence is the problem, and it is entirely understandable. People are asked to take tablets daily, sometimes with side effects, for a condition they cannot feel, to prevent an event that might not happen. Framed that way it is remarkable that anybody complies.
The framing that helps is absolute: lowering systolic pressure by 10 mmHg reduces the risk of major cardiovascular events by roughly a fifth. That is a large effect for a small daily act.
Home monitoring changes behaviour more than clinic readings do, because people see their own numbers move.
Supporting someone well
Get a home monitor validated by the British and Irish Hypertension Society, and use it properly: sitting, back supported, arm at heart level, after five minutes of rest, twice a day for a week.
Take tablets at a fixed time attached to an existing habit.
Cut salt, and understand where it actually is: bread, cereal, sauces and processed meat, not the salt cellar.
Move regularly. Reduce alcohol. Both have measurable effects on the number.
Never stop treatment because the reading is now normal. The reading is normal because of the treatment.
In a service, Fiducia Together keeps blood pressure observations with the medicines beside them, so an uncontrolled reading reaches the person doing the medication review rather than sitting in a chart.
Where to get help
A GP or practice nurse manages this, and many pharmacies offer free checks.
Ask what your target is, because it differs by age and by other conditions, and ask whether you are at it.
Blood Pressure UK have practical guidance and a monitor buying guide.
Tools we make that might help
These are our own products. We have put them here because they do something specific for this condition, not because every page needs a list.
Fiducia Together
Observations beside the medicines, so an uncontrolled reading reaches the medication review.
Last reviewed 2026-08-28 by Fiducia Together · Next review due 2027-08-28
Important: This page is general information, not medical advice, and it is not a diagnosis. If you are worried about your health or someone else's, speak to a GP, pharmacist, or call 111. In an emergency, call 999.