Health Check Podcast

What your blood pressure reading misses

Discover why standard clinical checks might miss critical heart risks, and the vital role of fat loss over weight loss.

ST GRAPHICS: NATASHA LIEW

Joyce Teo

Synopsis: Every first Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you.

For millions of people worldwide living with hypertension, keeping blood pressure numbers in the normal zone is the ultimate goal. But what if that peace of mind is an illusion? Recent findings from the REMODEL study at the National Heart Center Singapore suggests that the true danger to your heart might be completely invisible to standard clinical checks.

The study, published as a letter in the journal MedCom in February 2026, found that nearly 30 per cent of health complications related to high blood pressure occur in patients whose blood pressure appears perfectly normal on paper.

In this episode, Joyce Teo speaks to the study’s senior author, Associate Professor Calvin Chin, to find out about the importance of fat loss over mere weight loss and why a normal blood pressure reading may not always tell you the full story. He is a senior consultant in cardiology from the National Heart Center Singapore and the deputy director of the National Heart Research Institute Singapore.

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:43 Your blood pressure reading does not tell you the full story

4:11 High-risk individuals have a higher amount of visceral fat

7:30 Know your waist-hip ratio

12:08 How hard should you exercise?

13:46 Is it safe to exercise at maximum intensity all the time?

16:32 He discovered the importance of core strength the hard way

Read Joyce Teo’s stories: https://str.sg/JbxN

Host: Joyce Teo (joyceteo@sph.com.sg)

Produced and edited by: Amirul Karim

Executive producers: Ernest Luis and Lynda Hong

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