Why you must check your arteries?

If you think you are healthy, it's likely that your arteries are not, say two nonprofit health organizations.

From November until May, cardiovascular health awareness group CV Alliance and the Primary Care Foundation conducted examinations and a random survey of 160 individuals aged 18 to 84, of whom 56 percent were women and almost 80 percent over the age of 40.

After testing them for their vascular age and blood pressure, it was found that just over half had arteries older than their actual ages.

Arteries typically stiffen due to mechanical stress as one ages. However, a prematurely "aged" artery gains stiffness from poor diet and little exercise, leading to a buildup of fat and cholesterol, said diabetes and endocrine specialist Peter Tong Chun-yip.

As stiff artery walls cannot contract or expand to accommodate blood, Tong said high blood pressure is usually a good indicator of arterial stiffness.

Last year, around 10 percent of the population had high blood pressure, according to the Census and Statistics Department.

Of the survey participants, around 30 percent had high blood pressure, though it was also shown that more than half were not aware of it.

However, simply knowing the problem doesn't mean anything will be done, said Tong, who is also head of clinical operations and the business unit at Qualigenics, a program supported by the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Chan Hong-yiu, who admitted that he did little exercise, smoked and drank, was in his 30s when signs of arterial stiffness began showing up in a test called Pulse Wave Velocity.

"I was just walking one day and suddenly half my body lost all energy, and I had to kneel on the ground," Chan said. "Half an hour later, everything was fine again, so I just passed it off as nothing." He did not have to think about it again for 25 years.

Then, just last week, Chan was in the shower when his left foot suddenly became paralyzed, causing him to fall and lose consciousness. When he recovered, his wife urged him to go to hospital, where he was told that a partially blocked artery to his brain had caused paralysis in his foot.

It was also discovered that despite being only 58, Chan's arteries showed him to be over 90.

Actor Patrick Dunn Chi-fung, 51, who was in the TVB drama series OL Supreme last year, has a few words of advice: exercise and "keep a diet that doesn't have the words `too much' in front of anything."

The two organizations urge the public to go for regular check-ups and not ignore fainting spells or bouts of paralysis, as they may be a sign of a blocked artery.