When Belinda Hickson went for her Vitality Health Check, she did it for the Vitality points. Little did she know that this one set of checks will save her life when it was discovered that her blood pressure was so high that she needed to be admitted to hospital!
Vitality dietitian Lanine Herman was doing a routine health check on a client, Belinda Hickson, when she recorded a dangerously high blood pressure reading of 220/117 mmHg. Lanine says a reading this high is considered a hypertensive crisis which needs immediate attention, as the patient is at risk of a stroke.
Belinda Hickson, a real estate agent from Johannesburg, tells us: "After taking my reading, Lanine very gently and diplomatically nudged me toward hospital casualty." Once she was at casualty, Belinda was immediately rushed to the resuscitation area where they stabilised her blood pressure before admitting her. "I certainly feel that we left it, it may well have been the worst - and possibly last - decision of my life."
Belinda has since been discharged and is monitoring her blood pressure daily, investigating the cause and possible treatment. She says knew "something" was wrong but had no idea how serious it was. "I'd made a doctor's appointment because I was having headaches for about three weeks. My Vitality Health Check, the day before the doctor's appointment was unrelated. I was going in for my Vitality points!"
Healthy lifestyles include regular screening
"I was just feeling 'off'. Something had been lurking for ages," she says.
Today she's getting her lifestyle balance back through regular exercise, more quality time with family (her favorite way to de-stress) and eating more healthily.
Diagnosed with second-level hypertension, Belinda now realises how common hypertension is and why it's called the silent killer. Untreated, it increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and other serious health conditions.
"Those were the scariest couple of hours of my life. It was the best decision ever to do my health check. There's been a bit of paradigm shift from just getting Vitality points! Vitality is amazing," she laughs.