An estimated 11million South Africans live with hypertension. Worse still, three in four people do not even know they have high blood pressure. Sunday is World Hypertension Day and the Heart and Stroke Foundation SA wants everyone to have a blood-pressure test.Hypertension is the leading cause of heart attacks and strokes in this country, according to the foundation.Its CEO, Dr Vash Mungal-Singh, cited a review of studies in sub-Saharan Africa that found that only 7% of hypertensive patients had controlled blood pressure, meaning "93% of sufferers are at risk of having a heart attack, stroke or developing severe heart disease"."These findings show that we have a ticking time bomb on our hands," said Mungal-Singh.The foundation acknowledged that some risk factors were beyond patients' control - age, family history of hypertension and being diabetic - but said this made it important to manage such risk factors as they could.Salt intake is chief among them."Many people simply eat too much salt. In fact, we eat twice the amount we should - about 11g a day, which is more than double the amount that will reduce blood pressure," said professor Krisela Steyn of the Chronic Disease Initiative for Africa.Most important in preserving health are diagnosis, improved lifestyle and getting treatment."Peace of mind is as easy as having a blood-pressure cuff strapped on." ..