I’m Not Sick — Why Should I Check My Blood Pressure?

“I’m not sick, so why should I check my blood pressure?”

It sounds like a reasonable question. If you wake up every morning, go to work or school, eat, exercise, socialize and carry on with your normal life, you may see no reason to worry about your blood pressure.

But there is a problem with this way of thinking: high blood pressure does not always make you feel sick.

In fact, many people can have high blood pressure without knowing it. This is one reason hypertension remains such an important public-health concern in Ghana.

The numbers should make us pay attention
Ghana’s first nationwide WHO STEPwise survey on noncommunicable disease risk factors provides a clearer picture of the situation. According to the 2023 Ghana STEPS Report, 21.7% of adults aged 18–69 were living with hypertension, based on having elevated blood pressure or currently taking medication for elevated blood pressure. (WHO⁠)

But perhaps even more concerning is the number of people who did not know they had a problem.

Among adults with elevated blood pressure, 51.1% had not previously been diagnosed. (WHO | Regional Office for Africa⁠)

Think about what that means.
Someone can walk around feeling completely normal while their blood pressure is elevated. They may have no obvious warning sign telling them to visit a health facility. Without checking, they may never know.

And that is exactly why checking your blood pressure matters.

“But I’m young.”
For young people, this is probably one of the biggest reasons to ignore blood-pressure checks.

Hypertension is often thought of as something that happens to parents, grandparents or older people. But although the risk increases with age, younger adults are not completely excluded.

The Ghana STEPS data found that 5.5% of adults aged 18–29 were living with hypertension. The proportion increased considerably with age, reaching 24.9% among those aged 30–44 and 45.6% among those aged 45–59. (WHO⁠)

So being young does not mean you should be afraid of hypertension. It simply means you should not assume that you are automatically protected from it.

What exactly happens when blood pressure is high?

Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of our arteries.

When this pressure remains too high over time, it can put excessive strain on the heart and blood vessels. Untreated hypertension can contribute to serious complications, including stroke, heart disease and kidney damage. (World Health Organization⁠)

The danger is not necessarily that something dramatic happens immediately.

The danger is what can happen silently over time.

That is why hypertension is often described as a silent condition. You cannot always determine your blood pressure by how you feel.

Feeling fine is not the same as being fine
We often use symptoms as our body’s alarm system.

A fever tells us something may be wrong. Pain tells us something may need attention. A persistent cough can encourage us to seek medical care.

Blood pressure is different.
You could have elevated blood pressure and still feel perfectly normal.

This means that waiting until you develop symptoms before checking your blood pressure may mean waiting until a problem has already progressed.

A simple blood-pressure measurement can provide information that your feelings cannot.

What about stress, food and lifestyle?
Our daily habits can influence cardiovascular health.

Factors such as excessive salt intake, physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, obesity, alcohol consumption and tobacco use can contribute to the risk of high blood pressure. Managing these risk factors is therefore an important part of preventing and controlling hypertension.

This is particularly relevant as Ghana experiences a growing burden of noncommunicable diseases. The 2023 STEPS survey was designed to establish nationwide evidence on these risk factors and provide a baseline for prevention and control efforts. (World Health Organization⁠)

This does not mean that everyone who eats salty food or experiences stress will develop hypertension. Rather, it reminds us that our everyday choices can influence our long-term health.

Checking your blood pressure doesn’t mean you’re sick

Perhaps this is the message we need to change.

Checking your blood pressure is not an admission that you are sick. It is a way of knowing where you stand.

We check our bank accounts even when we are not broke. We check our phones even when we are not expecting a message. We check the fuel in our cars before they run empty.

Why shouldn’t we check something as important as our health?

A blood-pressure check is quick and generally painless. If the reading is elevated, one measurement does not automatically mean that you have hypertension. Blood pressure can vary, and a healthcare professional can determine whether repeat measurements or further assessment are needed.

The important thing is not to ignore an unusual reading.

So, what should we do?
Start with something simple: know your blood pressure.

Have it checked periodically, especially if you have risk factors or a healthcare professional has advised you to monitor it.

And don’t stop at checking.
Maintain a healthy diet, be physically active, limit excessive salt and alcohol, avoid tobacco, maintain a healthy weight where possible, and follow medical advice if you are diagnosed with hypertension.

Most importantly, don’t wait for your body to feel sick before you start paying attention to it.

The question we should be asking
Perhaps we have been asking the wrong question.

Instead of:
“I’m not sick, so why should I check my blood pressure?”

We should ask:
“If I can know my blood pressure before a serious problem develops, why wouldn’t I check it?”

In Ghana, where more than one in five adults aged 18–69 was found to be living with hypertension in the 2023 national STEPS survey, knowing our numbers is more than a personal health choice it is an important part of prevention. (WHO Regional Office for Africa⁠)

You don’t have to feel sick to take your health seriously.

Check it. Know it. Don’t wait for symptoms to tell you that something is wrong.