Theatre Royal Plymouth checks its Blood Pressure

03-03-15

Theatre Royal Plymouth checks its Blood Pressure

The team from the Stroke Association in Plymouth joined the backstage and front of house staff at the Theatre Royal Plymouth to raise awareness of stroke and give a free blood pressure check to all staff. The visit was part of the charity’s Know Your Blood Pressure campaign.

High blood pressure is the single biggest risk factor for stroke and the cause of half of all strokes. The ideal blood pressure is 120/80mmHg.High blood pressure is usually diagnosed if it is consistently higher than 140/90mmHg. Anyone with a reading around or above this figure should seek advice from their GP. If your blood pressure is above 160/100mmHg you should seek urgent medical attention.

Head of HR for The Theatre Royal Plymouth, Debbie Clinton said:“This was the first event we’ve held to promote Employee Wellbeing at the Theatre and it went really well with lots of people taking the opportunity to talk to the Stroke Association team.

We all learned to recognise the signs of a stroke and how different lifestyle choices can affect the risk of a stroke occurring.This was a good start to what I hope will be a series of similar events designed to help everyone at the Theatre think about their health and wellbeing.”

Lesley Willmott, Area Manager at the Stroke Association says; “High blood pressure affects 16 million people in the UK, yet it has no symptoms, so unfortunately many people are completely unaware that they have it. We are delighted that the team at the Theatre Royal invited us along to meet them.”

High blood pressure can be brought on by poor diet, smoking and stress and it often increases with age. However, in many cases high blood pressure can be controlled by making healthy lifestyle changes or taking medication. Getting your blood pressure checked regularly is absolutely essential in order to keep your stroke risk down.

Top tips for reducing blood pressure:

• 1.Eat a healthy diet low in saturated fat and salt
• 2.Exercise regularly
• 3.Give up smoking
• 4.Reduce stress
• 5.Lose weight if you need to

The Stroke Association runs Know Your Blood Pressure events across the country, to find your nearest event visit www.stroke.org.uk/kybp.

Ends

For further information please contact Cheryl Randeria on 07810 697957

Notes to Editors

The Theatre Royal Plymouth is the largest regional producing theatre in the UK and the leading promoter of theatre in the South West. It is also an organisation dedicated producing new plays by some of the country’s most exciting writers, and has built a national reputation for the quality of its pioneering work.