Millions to get NHS blood pressure checks at the barbers and supermarket to prevent silent killers

MEN get free blood pressure checks at barbershops as part of the NHS plans.

The tests could help prevent thousands of heart attacks each year by detecting signs of high blood pressure early, health chiefs say.

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New research shows that men are twice as likely to have a heart attack as women.

dr Tiberiu Pana, from the University of Aberdeen, said: “Men should be aware of risk factors such as obesity, lack of exercise, smoking and alcohol consumption at an early stage.”

“The sooner the better. There’s no harm in minimizing your cardiovascular risk.”

There are 100,000 hospital admissions for heart attacks in the UK each year – one every five minutes.

Around a quarter of Britons have high blood pressure, which significantly increases their risk of heart attack.

The NHS has doubled the number of blood pressure checks it offers to people over 40 in the last year, new figures show today.

Authorities have now given the go-ahead for a major expansion of the program to offer the screenings at a wider range of locations in local communities to help identify high blood pressure early.

Under the plans, patients can now access the potentially life-saving checks at barber shops, supermarkets, mosques and domino clubs.

In addition, a further 2.5 million blood pressure checks are carried out in public pharmacies.

This comes after new research presented at the European Society of Cardiology in Amsterdam showed men are at a significantly higher risk of heart attacks than women.

Between 1993 and 2018, more than 20,000 men and women over the age of 40 were followed in the UK.

The researchers also considered a range of factors, including race, disadvantage, BMI, physical activity, alcohol consumption and smoking status.

On average, study participants were followed up for 22 years.

Compared to women, men had twice the relative risk of suffering a heart attack and peripheral arterial disease.

They also had a 50 percent increased risk of heart failure and atrial fibrillation.

The study found that men have a 42 percent higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.

dr Sonya Babu-Narayan of the British Heart Foundation said: “This large study shows again that men are more likely to suffer a heart attack at a younger age than women.”

“Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in men. There’s never been a better time to get physically active and replace the pub session with an extra session at the gym.”