Professor Sarah Berry

Yeah.

All right.

Can long-term high blood pressure lead to dementia?

Yes, absolutely.

No.

Can simple lifestyle changes lower your blood pressure significantly?

Yes.

It may do.

Can your gut microbiome influence blood pressure?

Absolutely.

And finally, what's the most common misunderstanding about blood pressure?

I've definitely heard of high blood pressure, and I know that it's one of those things that lots of us are told by our doctors that we should worry about.

But I can't be the only person who doesn't really understand what it means, why my blood pressure rises, and what it means for my health.

So luckily, we have one of the UK's leading cardiologists to help us finally understand what it's all about.

And we're joined by Professor Sarah Berry, who I discovered actually spent many years running clinical trials in humans looking at the impact of food on blood pressure.

So I think we're in for a treat.

Can we just start at the beginning, Sanjay?

And so like during my day, if my heart rate goes up because I'm running to catch the bus, are you saying that literally because my heart rate has gone up, then suddenly my blood pressure goes up almost sort of in proportion to my heart rate?

I'm not understanding the harm yet.

So long-term, I understand I don't want to die of a heart attack or I don't want to get dementia.