Heart Awareness Month: The Number You Cannot Feel | 4 min read

Why September matters for your heart

Every September, the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa leads Heart Awareness Month, culminating in World Heart Day on 29 September. The purpose is straightforward: to make the scale of cardiovascular disease visible, and to encourage people to act on risks they may not know they have.

The numbers behind the campaign are sobering. Cardiovascular disease is the world’s leading cause of death, responsible for around 20 million deaths each year and roughly a third of all deaths globally. In South Africa, hypertensive disease, ischaemic heart disease and other forms of heart disease together account for approximately 10.9% of all deaths, and an estimated ten South Africans have a heart attack every hour.

This year the Foundation is unpacking a different theme each week: coronary heart disease, heart failure, heart rhythm disorders and hypertension. The sequence is deliberate. Hypertension is often the silent starting point, coronary heart disease is a leading consequence of it, rhythm disorders signal electrical instability, and heart failure is frequently the end stage where the heart can no longer keep up. Acting early at any stage can prevent progression to the next.

The problem with high blood pressure

High blood pressure gives you almost nothing to work with. No headache. No warning ache. No particular bad day that tips you off. It is entirely possible to feel completely well while your blood pressure is doing long-term damage to your arteries, heart, kidneys and eyes. This is why it is so often called the silent killer.

The Foundation’s own screening data illustrates how widespread this is: more than one in three people they assessed had raised blood pressure, frequently without any symptoms. National figures suggest around 44% of South African adults are hypertensive.

The only way to know your blood pressure is to have it measured. It takes a couple of minutes, it is painless, and it is one of the most useful pieces of health information you can have about yourself.

The risk factors worth knowing

Some risk factors for cardiovascular disease cannot be changed, such as age, family history and certain genetic conditions. Many can.

• Salt intake. Dietitians at the Heart and Stroke Foundation identify excessive salt as a key driver of hypertension. Notably, many people screened believed their salt intake was normal when it was in fact well above the 5g per day recommended by leading nutrition scientists. Most of it comes from processed and packaged food rather than the salt shaker.
• Tobacco use. Around 23.5% of South African adults smoke. The Foundation has also raised concern about rising vaping among younger people, which increases the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.
• Weight. An estimated 67.9% of women and 38.2% of men in South Africa are overweight or obese, which places additional strain on the cardiovascular system.
• Physical inactivity, high cholesterol, uncontrolled diabetes, excessive alcohol and chronic stress all contribute as well.

What you can do this month

• Have your blood pressure measured, and write the reading down so you have a baseline to compare against.
• Know your cholesterol and blood sugar numbers alongside it. Together they give a far more complete picture of your cardiovascular risk than any one number alone.
• Read food labels for sodium content, and reduce processed foods, cured meats, stock cubes, sauces and salty snacks.
• Build in regular movement. Even moderate, consistent activity meaningfully lowers cardiovascular risk.
• If you smoke or vape, treat stopping as the single highest-value change available to you, and ask your doctor for support with it.
• If you have already been diagnosed with hypertension, take your medication consistently and keep your follow-up appointments, even when you feel well.

Warning signs you should never wait on

Seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, pressure or tightness, pain spreading to the arm, neck, jaw or back, sudden shortness of breath, cold sweats with nausea, or sudden weakness, facial drooping or difficulty speaking. Heart attacks do not always look like the dramatic scenes on television, and symptoms can present differently in women.

Outside of emergencies, the message of Heart Awareness Month is a calmer one. Most cardiovascular disease develops over years, which means there is usually a long window in which to change its course. That window only helps you if you know where you stand.

If you do not know what your blood pressure is, September is a good month to find out. Find a healthcare provider and book a consultation online.

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