During this season, cardiologists and neurologists begin to encounter a significant increase in high blood pressure among their long-time patients due to their participation in holiday celebrations.

Dr. Louella Santos, advocacy chair of the Philippine Heart Association stressed that uncontrolled high blood pressure or hypertension is a ticking time bomb and a silent killer, damaging vital organs--the brain and heart that may lead to stroke or heart attack.

"The entire human body is also called the circulatory system that moves blood throughout the body. This blood circulation keeps organs, muscles and tissues healthy and working," Santos said in Filipino during PHA's Usapang Puso sa Puso webinar on Thursday.

Santos said onsistently elevated BP readings put undue strain on the heart and body vessels and can lead to a series of heart problems, making it crucial to identify and manage condition effectively.

Dr. Lianne Ramos, PHA Cardiology Fellow in Training at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center underscored that "anyone can have elevated BP," noting that some can be genetic because of age.

Elevated BP, she added, is also prevalent in smokers, those who don't exercise, have high sodium and fatty diet, drink alcohol a lot, and are chronically stressed.

A hypertensive person, she furthered, can be asymptomatic or symptomatic.

Symptoms may include dizziness, one side of the body becoming weak, and headache.

BP monitoring

The health experts advocated for consistent BP monitoring at least twice a day: upon waking up and before eating dinner.

"When taking BP, you need to make sure you are relaxed, in a calm area, sitting with your feet placed firmly on the ground, back supported, and arms at the level of your heart to make sure gravity doesn't affect the reading," Dr. Raymond Olivia, clinical associate profession from the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital.

"After taking the first measurement, wait one minute then take two more, each a minute apart as well. The first will be ignored, then you get the average of the remaining two," Olivia added.

He added that handy digital BP monitors that are available must be validated by local or international authorities, which can be checked online, are the best for self-monitoring a home because manual devices require another person to help and they must be trained in BP measuring.

Meanwhile, Olivia said that devices such as smartwatches or finger BP measurements "are not as accurate due to the location of the body" with veins in the wrist and finger being smaller and thus having higher blood pressure than normal.

Santos said taking the precise measurement for seven days and documenting it "would be greatly beneficial to your physician in tracking BP levels."