High blood pressure affected by bad manners

Bad manners and reality TV shows regularly make people's blood boil, a poll found today.

Almost eight out of 10 (79%) said poor manners and rudeness makes them seethe while poor driving is also on the list of annoying habits (61%).

Reality TV shows (32%) also cause anger, as do queue jumping (66%) and speaking too loudly on a mobile phone (40%).

The survey of more than 2,000 people was carried out for The Stroke Association, Rotary International and ambulance services to highlight the need for regular blood pressure checks.

High blood pressure is the biggest risk factor for having a stroke yet around one if four people are thought to have it without knowing it.

The Know Your Blood Pressure campaign is hosting 600 testing events offering free blood pressure checks and advice on preventing stroke.

While 41% of people say they do not feel their blood pressure rise when they get stressed, it actually does.

Regularly being stressed puts people at higher risk of stroke.

Laura Dart, deputy director of communications at The Stroke Association, said: "It is estimated that 40% of the 150,000 strokes suffered by people in the UK each year could be prevented by controlling high blood pressure.

"High blood pressure is often called the 'silent killer' as it does not always have any symptoms.

"Having this quick and simple test could save your life so come along to one of our 600 events taking place across the UK on and around April 17."

To find out the nearest event visit http://www.stroke.org.uk/kybp