Millions in England unaware they have ‘silent killer’ condition, research reveals

High blood pressure affects 37% of adults

But researchers say an even bigger issue could be the number of people who have the condition without knowing it. 

Their analysis found that almost six in 10 people with hypertension had not been diagnosed, despite high blood pressure affecting more than a third of adults.

The findings come from researchers at the University of Oxford, who examined health data from 1.4 million adults. 

Overall, 37% were found to have hypertension, a condition that can develop without obvious symptoms while significantly increasing the risk of heart attacks, strokes and premature death.

Men were more likely to have high blood pressure than women. Across all age groups, 42% of men were affected compared with 29% of women, while the condition became increasingly common with age.

Experts reveal what needs to change to tackle Britain’s hidden blood pressure problem

Researchers described the scale of undiagnosed cases as the “most striking finding”.

Writing in BMJ Public Health, they also warned that England’s existing approach to finding and managing hypertension “is not fit for purpose”.

The study points to a possible deterioration since the Covid-19 pandemic, with disruption to health services potentially having long-term effects on diagnosis and treatment.

Wenyu Liu, a medical statistician at Oxford Population Health and lead author of the study, said high blood pressure is often referred to as a “silent killer”, but argued that too many cases are still going undetected or inadequately controlled.

Prof Bryan Williams, chief scientific and medical officer at the British Heart Foundation, said the research highlighted the scale of undiagnosed hypertension across the UK. 

He said improving detection and treatment could prevent tens of thousands of avoidable heart attacks and strokes, but added that changes are needed in how people at risk are identified and supported.