Welcome, my name is Dr Warrick Bishop. I'm a cardiologist, an author and a keynote speaker. I'm CEO of the Healthy Heart Network. I'm all about trying to help people live as well as possible for as long as possible. Heart disease is huge in Australia. Every 20 minutes someone suffers a heart attack. Most of these could probably have been avoided if only we knew what to do. This podcast is all about helping you understand blood pressure, weight, cholesterol for better health. If you enjoy this podcast, I would be honored for a five-star review. You can share it with your family and friends. It may well save someone you love. How's your blood pressure? Is it good? Is it bad? Do you even know? Apparently your blood pressure is one of those they call... a silent killer or could be a silent killer. So I guess that's why some of us don't give it much consideration. Dr. Warrick Bishop is a cardiologist and he's here to answer all the questions about blood pressure, not under pressure. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Kim. Is it a silent killer, the high blood pressure? Look, indeed it is. It is one of those things that flies under the radar all the time. And the interesting thing about it, of course, is Our blood pressure can be up a bit and we just don't feel it. That's the big problem with it, Kim. But if you look at a cartoon, their eyes pop out. Indeed they do. Look, people almost do the same. So the way I describe this to my patients, Kim, if I could indulge you and your listeners, is that blood pressure is a spectrum. So from a low number to a really high number. And knowing what's perfect for anyone is really hard, right? Because everyone's a bit different. Like a 12-year-old girl would have a blood pressure that's perfect for her that's very different to, say, an 85-year-old man. And that just makes perfect sense. But if we think about it, along that spectrum, along those numbers of blood pressure, there's a point for any individual where at that point they're just right, they're at their lowest blood pressure, below that lowest. blood pressure for them. They get symptoms, so they stand up and they're lightheaded or giddy or can't function. But just above that perfect level, they can't feel anything. And they're a bit higher above that perfect level. They feel fine, way above that perfect level. They're getting those bulgy eyeballs that you're talking about and blood coming out of their ears and they need to be in hospital. But there's a big space there between what would be ideal for that person, the lowest blood pressure with the least wear and tear on their arteries and a really big problem. But that... That elevation in blood pressure, that slight rise represents the wear and tear over and above what these people should be having on a regular basis, day in, day out, 24-7, 365 days of the year for their entire life. So it's a really big deal to keep that blood pressure to as close as ideal for any individual for as long as possible. So what causes it? We probably would first say stress. Well, stress causes it acutely. So if someone came and kicked you in the leg, your blood pressure would go up. And your eyes would pop out. Absolutely, absolutely. So, look, a stressful environment is not a good place to be, and that would drive people's blood pressure up for a long period of time during their work, periods during their time at work. But, look, there's multiple things that drive up blood pressure. Most commonly, we inherit a number of different genes from our family. So individuals who get significant blood pressure at a younger age than normal often will have a bit of a family history. Sometimes there can be single causes for it, and that's why you end up seeing a specialist to investigate the slightly trickier blood pressure. But unfortunately, as we age, Kim, our arteries get stiffer. And as they get stiffer, the blood pressure... goes up. So there's multiple reasons that can drive it. But the most important thing is to find it, first of all. So alcohol can lift it, can't it? Certainly can. I ask you this because my producer, Ross, has been off the source, as we call it. He's having a healthy start to the year. He's on blood pressure tablets, but since he's dropped off his drinking, he's feeling quite lightheaded. Would that be the reason why his blood pressure is going down? Well, I'd have to get a bit more information to make a call on that. But if he's lost weight as well, Kim, what we know, and this is a great equation for anyone out there listening and wanting to do something lifestyle-wise to help their health, we know that a kilogram of weight lost is one millimetre of mercury reduction in blood pressure. Wow. Yeah, yeah, which is fantastic. So I get patients and I'll say, look, your blood pressure is about 5 to 10 millimetres of mercury too high and I'd like to lower it with medication or you can lose 5 to 10 kilos in weight. What would you choose? And it's a great motivator. I'm glad you weren't asking me that question because it can be hard as you get older to shift 5 to 10 days. That is true. But if you can, what a great outcome. What a nice dividend. One kilogram lost, one millimetre of mercury reduction in your blood pressure. Five to ten kilograms weight loss is the same as most of our medications. So it's a really good equation to remember and a really good dividend on making some lifestyle efforts. Did Ross lose any weight? Yeah, he's off the carbs too. He's off the sauce. He's off the carbs. So he's lost 10 kilos. Yeah, he's holding up two hands. He's lost 10 kilos since January this year. What an absolute rock star. He didn't even come and see me to achieve that. I would have been in his ear about it. Well, look, I reckon on that note, we'll leave it and look forward to chatting to you about all things heart health again next month. Thank you so much for your time, Dr. Warrick Bishop. Thanks, Kim. Fabulous. Hi. Ever wondered what your risk of heart attack is? You should. It's the single biggest killer in the Western world. We're talking one death less than every 30 minutes in Australia. One death less than every 60 seconds in the United States. Nine million deaths globally per annum. Well, how do you check your risk? Well, you can go too. www.virtualheartcheck.com.au You'll find out about your risk and what can be done beyond that to be even more precise.
