According to the health statistics of industrialised countries, high blood pressure is no longer a disease that’s associated with obesity. Even slim people are susceptible to it. Officially, 25% of the population aged between 20 and 60 years have high blood pressure. This number rises dramatically among people over 70 years old. These days, this insidious and life-threatening disease is also reported among children. It’s assumed that approximately 8 million people have high blood pressure in Poland. If left untreated, it inevitably leads to heart attacks, cerebral haemorrhage, as well as premature failure or weakening of the walls of the arteries and blood vessels. The widely held belief that high blood pressure can be controlled only pharmacologically is untrue.