Half of people are suffering from high blood pressure and are either unaware or unwilling to do anything about it, say boffins

HALF of people have high blood pressure, but most are unaware or unwilling to do anything about it, research found.

Fifty per cent of 1,097 people in a North American study had hypertension, a main cause of heart attacks and strokes.

Most were not on medication, did not know they were sufferers or would not acknowledge it.

This is a much higher proportion of the population than previously feared and Dr Grant Pierce, of Winnipeg, Canada, called it “a surprisingly large number”.

In order to create awareness and try to identify health issues, researchers are calling for mobile clinics to be set up at public areas such as shopping centres.

High blood pressure — known medically as hypertension — has been dubbed the ‘silent killer’ because there are no symptoms, however once diagnosed it can be easily treated with drugs or lifestyle changes.

As well as dementia, it can put extra strain on the heart and blood vessels raising the risk of serious heart problems, such as heart attacks and strokes.

The only way to find out if your blood pressure is high is to have your blood pressure checked.

For the random testing, researchers set up mobile clinics at shopping malls, workplaces, hospitals and community centres in a Northern American city.

Of the results, Dr Pierce added: “What is particularly significant about this study is a surprisingly large number of participants exhibited some type of hypertensive urgency or emergency.

“Many of the participants were either unaware of their condition or simply not adherent to their medications.”