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MEMBERS of Gatwick Diamond Rotary Club had a shock after blood pressure tests showed one in seven needed medical advice.

The club, which formed last year, organised a Know Your Blood Pressure event where 35 men and women of all ages had the check.

The alarming results revealed that five of the group had higher than normal blood pressure and were referred to their GPs for further tests.

Event organiser Madeline Mills said: "This demonstrates the real need for this type of free service provided by the Rotary Club and we will definitely be running it again next year.

"As a pilot project we didn't know how many people to expect through the doors. We felt 35 was a good number in only two hours but were amazed at how many were referred to their GP."

Club founder and president Geoff Williamson said: "With what we have learned from this event we hope next year it will be an all day event and we will carry out over 100 blood pressure checks."

The event, run in conjunction with The Stroke Association, has been held at other Rotary clubs, with great success.

A healthy blood pressure is a level of 120/90 or less. The first number measures the pressure with which your heart pushes blood around the body. The second number measures the pressure when your heart relaxes. High blood pressure is when the level is consistently above 140/90.

10:18am Friday 9th May 2008

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